In The Crosshairs
by HesterValentine
Summary: My new life in Japan was going about as well as could be expected for a girl like me. Between the mad thug we were avoiding in my neighbourhood, the crazed classmate that had me under their thumb, and an entire collection of ridiculous complications, I was actually surprised I was still sane. Of course, all things considered, I wasn't entirely sure that was a good thing.
1. Yellow Is Not My Colour

Chapter One

Yellow Is Not My Colour

I didn't understand.

Of course I didn't.

I don't know how I had ever expected myself to. This place, this world, it was too strange, too different. Everyone carried on like the entire world was just fine with them pulling rank on each other and butting heads and disrupting daily life for their own selfish petty politics when what they did actually mattered. They were so detached from reality that it felt like I'd fallen down my very own rabbit hole, without any need for a rabbit at all. It was all bizarre and frustrating and I'd been thrust in woefully under-prepared. I had definitely learnt something, though.

People like me shouldn't enter Ouran High.

I'd kind of known this from the moment my disgruntled and newly-discovered aunt thrust the box into my hands. It was heavier than a cardboard box of clothes should have been and my look of horror as I dragged out the thick yellow ballgown-esque uniform was obviously not lost on her. She glared at me with as much venom as she could muster.

"This… can't be the uniform," I said slowly. She made a sound of distaste at my hesitant and broken Japanese.

"You have not been practising as you were instructed." I sighed.

"I'm in Japan. Everyone speaks Japanese. How could I _not _practise?" Her eyes flashed and I winced. I still wasn't quite adept at this 'no sarcasm or backchat' thing my new family had going on. I looked down at the yellow – _yellow_ – fabric and clenched my fists.

"That is the Ouran uniform. You shall wear it without complaint."

"Okay, fine. I'll wear it." But like hell I wasn't going to complain. When she had left, I held it up to myself and turned to the mirror. Yellow. Why did it have to be yellow? And those puffy sleeves… did anyone actually look good in this? I stared at myself in despair. I was so obviously western that it hurt and I was built completely differently to all those slim little Japanese girls. I poked my ample chest that I had to live with, currently hidden by the biggest and scruffiest hoodie I owned, solely to annoy my Aunt Chiyoko. It was going to be a struggle to squeeze the twins into that thing, I was sure. At least it was high cut and there was no way I could fall out of it… although I'd probably find something equally embarrassing to do on the first day anyway. I winced at my reflection. It was a completely ridiculous outfit and so out of touch with which century it was that I either wanted to laugh my ass off or burn it at the stake. Either way, I knew I'd look absolutely stupid in it. Throwing it over the door, I collapsed onto my bed and curled up into the foetal position. I'd developed a liking for the foetal position.

Someone knocked.

"Katya-kun?" Yori took my grunt as acceptance and walked into the cloud of yellow. I heard him hold it up. There was a pause.

"Wow. They're sending you Ouran Academy?" I grunted again. My bed squeaked as he sat down on the end of it. Neither of us spoke for a minute. Yori's family lived all over this apartment building and I'd been kind of taken on as an extra child – considering there were already seven (that I knew of), it didn't seem to make too much difference. Yori and Suzu, his five year old sister and cute as a button, lived in the three-room flat with me. We'd thought me and Yori would end up going to the high school together. I had even started looking forward to it and he'd been telling me all about the different classes he was taking and all the people I would meet. Would have met.

"You know, you're going to have to walk through the neighbourhood in that." I groaned loudly.

"Why would you say that?" I moaned, batting him with my pillow before sinking back down into my ball of peace. "I'm going to look like such an idiot…" I added in English. He poked me.

"Don't do that. I have no idea what you're saying."

"Welcome to my world."

"They'll make your life hell for that." He meant the local street thugs, led by Jai, who was the biggest self-centred pile of cocksure arrogance I'd ever had the displeasure of witnessing. I'd been here two months; we'd had various run-ins already.

"They'll regret it."

"Try not to kill anyone."

"No promises."

He sighed, a far-away look on his face, one that I only really saw when he talked about his 'friend' Sayuri (for which I teased him mercilessly).

"I'm so jealous."

"Of me? Haven't we already had the conversation about how much my life pretty much sucks at this point?" I frowned at him from under my arm.

"But it's _Ouran_," he sighed and shook his head. We sat there in silence for a couple more minutes. He tousled my hair as he got up to find Suzu, flicking off my light on the way out. Alone, I contemplated the depth of missing knowledge about pretty much everything Japanese. A few months ago, the extent of my Japanese was 'Sorry' and 'Everyone', random words picked up from binging on anime. Now I lived in the freaking country: from the Children's Home in Cheshire, England, to this run-down flat, to live with people I barely knew, while answering to a stupidly wealthy family that was trying their hardest to disown me without _actually_ disowning me and now, with the end of the summer looming, I was apparently being sent to some legendary school for rich Japanese kids that I knew absolutely nothing about, except that it should only exist in a fairy tale. I grimaced and put my headphones on, blasting familiar songs in the darkness.

The yellow gown mocked me every time I turned over. It took me a very long time to get to sleep.

* * *

><p>The back of the classroom became my sanctuary that I left with reluctance after every class. I quickly became aware that while my speaking had improved dramatically, my reading and writing skills were absolutely terrible, at least in Japanese. I had to copy down exactly what the teacher wrote on the board and spend my entire lunch break translating all my notes into English so I didn't fall behind. This meant I usually looked like a complete moron during class, which was not something I was used to. I found myself living for maths class, which was exactly the damn same, and I was just as good in Japan as I had been back home – which, luckily, was pretty damn good. I hadn't made any friends – to be honest, I didn't really want to, which I'm sure would send Aunt Chiyoko into a blinding spitting rage. I was starting to think that the entire school was made just so families could make seemingly innocent contacts with others through their kids. The entire school was one big jumble of politics. My school back in England had been about grades, putting on a tough face and ignoring the popular girls who hung out in the English block. This… was an entirely different ballpark and I had no idea how to play the game.<p>

It was starting to seem like a serious problem.

I was almost lost, having somehow ended up in the west wing, when I heard footsteps behind me. I squeezed my eyes shut and kept walking. _Please, not now._ The footsteps picked up speed.

"Hayashi!"

_Leave me alone…_

"Hayashi Katya!" A hand came down on my shoulder heavily. I jerked to a stop and stared down at the floor as the owners of the footsteps all caught up. I turned slowly to face the smiling – read, smirking – Fukui Tsubame.

She was my other serious problem.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were ignoring me." She pouted and flicked her hair out of her eyes. "And that would really not be very nice." I didn't answer her, very aware of the semicircle of supporters. She sighed, putting an unwelcome arm around my shoulders.

"We had an appointment, did we not?" She said airily. "You were going to… Akemi, what did I say yesterday?" Her taller friend giggled nastily.

"You said she could clean your shoes instead of rent."

"That's right!" Tsubame clapped and grinned at me. "That sounds like such a good trade, doesn't it?" I looked at her dully.

"I can pay my rent." She tutted.

"Yes, but you see, it's not just your rent, is it?" I glared at my shoes and forced myself not to reply. _Politics_, I thought,_ could suck its own pompous dick_.

Fukui Tsubame was rich – obviously. She was petite and sort of pretty, though her face was usually marred by her trademark greedy snarl. Her dark hair was cut into a severe bob that suited her just fine and, surprisingly, she looked alright in the yellow uniform I hated so much. What made her different was the fact she was a complete and utter bitch with an unfortunate knack for leadership, a dark love for blackmail and a sadistic need to humiliate others for her pleasure. She was in my class, always sitting at the front, always asking me questions to poke fun at my shaky Japanese, stealing my notes and laughing at the English she found there – because obviously English was a stupid language (just… what?). Tsubame liked to mock me at every opportunity, the poverty-stricken girl whose relatives only just tolerated her existence. She was just a classic bully; she jeered, stole my things, tripped me in the cafeteria. It was nothing really new. Oh, except she also owned the apartment block I lived in, so if I didn't do everything she told me to, Yori and his family would be out on the street before I could blink.

Classic bullies I could deal with. This was something else.

"Fine." I sighed. "Give me your shoes, then." She laughed. She had the worst laugh ever.

"Don't be a fool, Hayashi," she twinkled. "I don't want to take my shoes off. The floors have had all sorts of things walking all over them." Her cronies sneered at me. I was obviously one of those things. I gripped my maths book tighter and counted down from fifteen.

"So what do you expect me to do, Fukui?" Swearing at her in English every time I said her surname gave me a small amount of happiness. A very small amount.

She leaned in very close and her grin widened some more.

"I expect you to lick them clean." Someone's hand grabbed me from behind and I hit the floor hard. I stared at my reflection in her shiny shoes, my face on fire. She was getting worse. I itched to pull her down with me, to sink my fist into her grinning face, to draw blood from whichever part of her broke first. I knew, I _knew_, what I should have done, instead of turning slowly back into the meek person I used to be. I clenched my fists on the cold ground, aware of the feet purposefully trampling on my skirt. Tsubame leered down at me.

"How good a friend is that Sato Yori?"

I closed my eyes and obeyed.

* * *

><p>"What the hell happened to you?!" I tried to shut the door in Yori's face but he was annoyingly bigger than me. I gave up and stalked away from him.<p>

"You know, it's rude to force yourself into someone else's room."

"Your face, Katya." He grabbed me and spun me round. I winced. Tsubame and Co had upped the ante.

"It's nothing," I growled. He span me round to face the mirror, drawing out another painful hiss, and pointed at my reflection. I made a face, then stopped, because it hurt like hell. One of my eyes was blackening quickly and though my lip had stopped bleeding a couple of hours earlier, it still insisted on being frighteningly red. It had been a bad day. Apparently Tsubame shoes were too eager to be clean and one of them got very well acquainted with my eye. The rest of her friends' shoes had said hello to most of my other body parts as well. Akami's had been the hardest. I really didn't like that one.

Long story short, I hurt like a bitch.

"You let them hurt you like this?" I shook him off and began dumping clothes in the wash basket.

"They only kicked the shit out of me a little. It's no big deal," I muttered. He grabbed my uniform and shook it in front of my face. The browning stains were hard to miss. Face burning, I snatched it back.

"I said, no big deal."

"How is that no big deal?" He yelled at me.

"You'll wake Suzu-chan," I said softly. We both glanced to the open door and his tiny sister sleeping soundly. He looked at me and his eyes made me feel so guilty that I turned my back on him completely.

"Why didn't you stop them?" I hesitated.

"You should see the other guy," I said eventually, shaking out my uniform. He didn't answer and I knew he suspected I was lying through my teeth. I heard the door close a second later and sank slowly to the floor, gripping the blood-stained dress until my knuckles went white.

I couldn't tell them.


	2. The Hosts With The Most

Chapter Two

The Hosts With The Most

Most of my free time became Avoiding-Fukui-Tsubame time. It seemed there was no end to her list of humiliating chores she wanted me to do for her and she was getting bolder and bolder. My scalp was on fire from her vicious yanking on my hair and I had a variety of scratch marks and bruises under the long yellow sleeves. Yori had stopped speaking to me; he thought I was getting myself into this on purpose. He thought I was wasting my time at his precious fantasy school be getting into fights. I rubbed my arm bitterly. I wished I was getting into fights. At least I'd have some dignity left.

I was hiding at the edge of the elementary section of Ouran, slumped against the wall. This was what I had been reduced to – running and hiding like a coward. My logic was, if she couldn't catch me, she couldn't force me to disobey her. And I knew she wanted me to. She was testing my limits every damn time, trying to make me break so she could exercise her power with wicked glee. I stared at the ground and imaged the rest of my school life under her thumb. It was depressing really.

I punched the wall next to me, scaring the shit out of two younger students who promptly ran away. I hated this.

A teacher appeared out of the corner of my eye. I got up and casually strolled away, kind of pissed that I'd been forced out my safe spot. I made my way up a grand staircase, lost in thought. Perhaps if I kept moving, she would never find me. _But then you'll fall behind_, my mind decided to remind me, _your free time is supposed to be for study_. I groaned and turned another corner. It wasn't like I didn't want to study. It was just that all the places I was supposed to study were the places she would check first. I rubbed my hand across my face. This was just exhausting. I needed a distraction.

Music attracted my attention and I looked behind me.

Perhaps it was an open music club, I hoped. I let a small smile wander across my face. Music made everything better, or at least it did to me. I looked up at the sign – the third music room – and pushed open the doors.

My first impression was a lot of light, a lot of sound and a lot of laughter.

My second was that it so was not a music club.

"Welcome, my lady. A new customer, I believe? I have not had the pleasure of gazing upon your beauty before." The blond student bowed. I slowly extracted my hand from his and backed up a step, confused and taken by surprised. This guy, this incredibly smooth and handsome guy, I'll admit, had appeared out of nowhere to compliment me? This was… what the hell was this?

"Uhh…"

"Nervous?" He struck a pose, eyes sprakling. "You need not be afraid. The sole purpose of this host clubs is to make beautiful women such as yourself smile." It dawned on me.

"Host club?" I'd heard of them, vaguely. "I thought that was kind of like…" I didn't know the Japanese for brothel. I shrugged. "I'm in the wrong room. Sorry."

"Are you leaving?" I looked down on the cutest boy I think I had ever seen. In high school. I blinked.

"Uhh…" I repeated. His eyes expanded in the classic puppy dog look. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the blond watching me closely, as if gauging my reaction. I imitated Yori and ruffled the kid/high school student's hair.

"Sorry, little guy," I said. I was whirled away from the door before my hand even reached the handle.

"Not a loli-shota fan? That's okay, we have plenty here to suit your taste." The blond flung out his arm to gesture at other students that had appeared behind him. "Are you into the strong silent type? The forbidden love? The natural? The prince?" He gave a twinkling smile. "Tell me, sweet lady. What kind of man do your dreams revolve around?"

"Ones that leave me alone," I muttered in English before raising my eyes to his. "And that is so none of your business."

"Come now –"

"Really not interested." There was a pause and before I could blink, he had slunk away to sulk. I felt two arms come down on my shoulders and tensed.

"Oi, oi," the guys at my side said with a grin, "You really knocked him there."

"He's been on such a roll today too," the right one said.

"There's always one," the left added and they both looked away meaningfully. I stared at the guy in the corner. He was pulling off the incredible sulk with aplomb. The twins – as they can't have been anything else, identical as they were – span me round.

"I'm Hikaru."

"I'm Kaoru. We're the Hitachiin bothers of the host club." Ah. The forbidden love that was mentioned. I grimaced inside. I so was not into that but, looking around at what I realised was a multitude of customers, lots of girls were.

"Nice to meet you," I said awkwardly. Hikaru pointed over my shoulder.

"The one you just traumatised is our lord, Suou Tamaki."

"Don't take it personally, though. Haruhi does it to him all the time." I glanced in the direction he indicated. The host chatting with a very pretty girl was exceedingly feminine but flashed them a warning glance that they ignored.

"Neesan!" I span just in time to catch the bundle of energy that crashed into me. The cute one smiled up at me. "I'm Honey-chan! And he's Mori-chan!" I looked from the cheerful thing in my arms to the looming guy standing above me. I managed to force out a hello. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Why were they all…

"There are guests to attend to." Everyone looked up and the last member pushed his glasses up calmly. He glanced at me.

"New guests are always greeted by each host separately. It seems your dismissal of Tamaki intrigued them enough to pull them away from their work." The disapproval was obvious.

"Hai, hai, we're going," the twins sighed. Honey leapt from my arms into… Mori's. The last member gave me a short bow.

"I am Ootori Kyoya." He cocked his head. "Do you wish to become a customer?" I looked around. The girls doted on the guys, eyes shining, entranced by every word that came out of their mouth. I watched the twins embrace each other at a table close by, sending their customers into squeals of delight, and Honey being fed chocolates across the room, next to a blank-faced Mori. The one they called Lord, Tamaki, had been lured from his corner by some sweet-tongued girls and was busy sending shivers of delight down their spines.

"I don't think…" I said hesitantly. Sure they were bizarre and the whole concept of this club seemed… akin to inappropriate activities but they were nice. Carefree, I decided was the word. It almost seemed fun, except for the unashamed amount of flirting. I then realised it probably cost money. I glanced down at myself. I'd gotten pretty good at invisible stitching over the last few weeks but it would have to be replaced eventually. I didn't have the cash to spare.

"Sorry." I turned towards the door. There may have been an answer but an exclamation drowned him out.

"I can't take it!" Heads turned and I looked ahead. The girl was obviously irate and her friends hovered around her.

"It's okay, Yoshiko," one said uncertainly. The girl pushed her away.

"No, it's not. He should be mine!" The twins straightened.

"Haruhi's got another one," one said darkly. Behind me, Kyoya glanced down at his files.

"She's a regular. It'd be a shame to ban her." He snapped it shut. "But we will have to stop her." The girl, Yoshiko, took a few angry steps towards Haruhi's table and the rest of the host club visibly tensed as she sped up. Tamaki set off at a run, shouting Haruhi's name. The host's head turned, eyes widening at the figure of fury heading in his direction.

She jerked to a stop.

"You're embarrassing yourself," I said quietly. She looked down at my hand on her wrist, obviously shocked.

"What-?"

"You should leave before you make it worse." I began to walk towards the door, dragging her along behind me. She protested, but weakly; my intervention seemed to have taken all the fire out of her but I knew from her mutterings that she knew who I was. I didn't look at her. I'd had my fair share of humiliation without witnessing someone else's. At the door, I let go of her hand and she all but ran from the club, from me, her flurry of friends hurrying after her. I sighed. If this didn't stir Tsubame up to 'punish' me for 'interfering or taking part in activities created for a higher class of people', then I was the queen of spain.

As a note, I was so not the queen of spain.

* * *

><p>Kyoya frowned at door I had left earlier and drummed his fingers on the table. Tamaki cast him a glance from where he was still fussing over Haruhi, who had long given up insisting she was fine.<p>

"Is something wrong, Kyoya?" He asked worriedly.

"Do you not have her in your files?" Hikaru asked, peering over his shoulder.

"I thought everyone was in your files," Kaoru added, mimicking his brother. Kyouya shrugged them off, opening the mentioned folders.

"She is, in fact, in my files. She is just," he paused. "Different." Haruhi looked up at him.

"How so?" She asked, pulling her blazer straight and gently pushing Tamaki's hovering hands away. Kyoua glanced down.

"She's in a bit of trouble. However, she seems perfectly capable of getting out of it." Kaoru frowned.

"What do you mean by trouble?" The shadow king gave a small smile and closed his files with the familiar snap. The twins crossed their arms and glared at him but no amount of prodding could make him talk. Eventually giving up, they sat back down, leaning against each other.

"Well, whoever she is, she just saved up a whole lot of trouble," Hikaru said, eyes narrowing, "I don't think they'd have been happy at us gleefully throwing that one out, eh, Kaoru?"

"Hm," his twin agreed vaguely.


	3. Not All That It Seems

Chapter Three

Not All That It Seems

"_The host club_?!" I nodded, hefting the full school bag higher up my shoulder. Mornings were the best part of the day, apart from the bit where I was in bed. The walk to school was always refreshing. It was the part of the day when I had literally nothing to worry about at all, hence why we set off much earlier than we could have. Mornings were lovely - no Tsubame, no Aunt Chiyoko, no making a fool out of myself, nothing to cause lasting bruising. Plus, I got to walk part way with Yuri, dressed in his relaxed uniform of which I was eternally jealous. He turned towards me as I recounted yesterday's events, his eyes wide as saucers. I almost laughed.

"I can't believe you met the _host club_." He ran his spare hand through his hair. "Wow. I mean… what were they like?" I looked at him, surprised.

"You know about them?" He chuckled, shaking his head. Sometimes he forgot I knew absolutely nothing about anything at all. I'm pretty good at pretending I know everything.

"Of course I do. They're kind of like legends around here," he explained. I smirked at the brightening sky as he began to ramble on about each of them and their families, zoning out every now and then. It was getting busy in this part of town – slightly more respectable than our part, it seemed. Shops were opening up and groups of students stood around giggling. I got some weird looks every now and then, in my badge of sham-honour. I totally meant honour. Obviously Ouran students didn't venture down here much. I pulled myself back into the present and realised Yuri was still talking. How did everyone keep all this information about different families in their heads? Especially someone like Yuri, who had basically nothing to do with them.

"Why do you even know this stuff?" I asked in amazement. "I don't know this and I go to the same goddamn school." He shook his head as I slipped in and out of English. 'Goddamn' was one of the words that just seemed to find its way into whatever language I was speaking.

"I always wanted to go to Ouran." He sighed. "I actually took the entry exam."

"Really?" I was about to press him when something fell over with a bang behind us. We turned to see fruit rolling across the street and a horribly familiar figure lounging against the remaining crates.

"I don't think you heard me properly," he sneered to the shop owner, who began to stammer, indignant. I began to slink backwards, dragging Yuri with me.

"What is he doing here?" I hissed. Yuri shook his head. Jai had a very distinct territory, which was unfortunately our neighbourhood, or at least we thought he did. I'd manage to avoid him ever since term started, which was a good compromise for both of us, but it looked like that wasn't lasting much longer. Something must've seriously boosted his confidence to make him venture up here. Jai sighed.

"You're still not listening, old man." The shop owner hit the pavement with a yelp and Jai's buddies guffawed to themselves. The boss himself put a foot on the man's head and pressed slightly, his trademark grin on his face. The surrounding street had gone very quiet as everyone else realised these new bullies weren't messing around. I glanced behind me. We were about a hundred metres from an alley way. If we could get there without being spotted…

"Leave him alone!" Yuri nudged me, ruining my escape planning.

"What?" I muttered and glanced back at the scene. I knew that light blue blazer. In fact, I knew the person in it, if only vaguely. Jai turned his head to look at the newcomer.

"Well, look here. Some little rich kid comes wandering down to our level and tell us what to do." He kicked the man on the ground absently. "That doesn't seem fair, does it, guys?"

"I said, leave him alone." Jai moved, towering over the small student, and I groaned inwardly at the defiant expression. I knew, and Yuri knew, that my fellow student was obliviously digging himself a hole that just so happened to be six feet deep and distinctly rectangular. I decided at that moment that I really hated being me.

See, here is where I made a really stupid decision.

I could have, if I wanted to, walked away then. We could have easily made it to the alley while Jai was distracted and ran for our pathetic little lives, and left the well-meaning yet woefully misguided rich kid to be beaten to a pulp. I could have not got involved with any more drama than I already had done and to be honest, I'd already saved this guy once already, although admittedly a crazed fan and a sadistic street thug are two exceptionally different things.

"You're going to want to get out of here." Yuri glanced at me and went white.

"Don't you dare-"

There was a crack and Jai reeled to the side, stunned. I swept up my school bag as I ran past, catching the boy by the wrist. He stared briefly before I dragged him along after me.

"What're you doing?" He stammered as we hurtled into a side street. Dead end. Nuts.

"Trust me on this, kid," I said through gritted teeth, "You do not want to start a fight with that guy." I skidded to a halt behind a shop and gestured up the ladder at the back. He stared at me.

"You just did." I grinned without humour.

"I can handle myself. Up." He glanced at the rickety contraption but began to climb. A yell caught my attention and I swore as two of Jai's crew raced down the alley towards us. The guy on the ladder glanced down at me, worried. I waved my hand.

"Keep climbing. I'm right behind you." I hefted my heavy school bag in my hand and, not for the first time, thanked Isaac Newton for advanced calculus.

I swung the bag with full force into the side of the first guy's head and sent him crashing into the wall with a sickening crack. His buddy snarled and I flicked him an obscene hand gesture that seemed to send him into a blind rage. He lunged and I dodged, leaping onto the first rung. The guy turned and got a heavy boot to the face. He crumpled satisfyingly.

The stray Ouran student helped me onto the roof. He glanced down at the fallen gang member but wisely decided not to comment.

"What now?" He asked. I heard movement below us. Jai's angry voice echoed up from somewhere. I swallowed. We had to get out of here.

Between us, we seemed to know the territory. A few roofs over got us to a fire escape and then suddenly I was following him. Unfortunately, my bright yellow monstrosity was not exactly subtle. I might as well have run around with a giant flashing neon sign saying _**HERE SHE IS, QUICK, KILL HER**_. The skirts kept getting caught. I span to get free of a chain-link fence, ripping a chunk out of the bottom of my uniform with a few choice curse words, before stumbling back into step. I glanced ahead.

"Where are we going, exactly?" I got out between breaths.

"I'm not sure. Over the bridge and round to school?" I nodded as we left the apparent safety of the alleys and sped towards the river. My legs were beginning to tire but he was more so. I grabbed his wrist to pull him along after me when I heard the roaring behind us. I glanced back.

"_Shit._"

Years of being one of the Home kids at a run-down state school had taught me to run fast and fight dirty. There weren't many things that could catch up to me in a flat-out run. Unfortunately, a car was one of those things.

"Are they fucking crazy?!" I reverted back to English. A bridge. Of all the places they could have caught up with us in a great big killing machine, it had to be a bridge.

"They're going to hit us!" It really looked like they might. It wasn't a very wide bridge and the gleaming of tarnished metal looked like it may have done this before. I knew for a fact Jai would think nothing of it. I looked ahead of us, feeling the weight of an addition tiring person with every step. We wouldn't reach the other side by the time the car reached the bridge. That left us one option if we didn't want to end up with serious injury.

"Can you swim?" I yelled. He hesitated, eyes widening.

"You'll be fine," I said and vaulted over the side. There was the vague sound of brakes screeching above us before we hit the water.

* * *

><p>I coughed a load of water onto the stony bank and collapsed onto my back nest to my sopping wet companion. There was a couple of moments of silence.<p>

"We just jumped off a bridge."

"Correct," I replied.

"We're going to have to walk to school like this."

"Also correct."

"We're in our _underwear._" We looked at each other and started to laugh.

"Oh god, I knew there was a practical reason to hate those uniforms!" I snorted, glancing down at myself and remembering the momentary panic as the heavy dress weighed me down. Both of us had to shed our clothes to stay above water.

"Question," I said, rolling over, "How are you getting away with posing as a guy at the host club?"

"It's a very long story," she sighed, running her fingers through her wet hair.

"Fair enough. I stuck out my hand. "I'm Katya, uh, Hayashi Katya. Excuse my Japanese and all. I'm not really sure how it works." She smiled at me and shook my hand.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Fujioka Haruhi and your Japanese is… passable." I laughed. She turned her bag upside-down and groaned at the torrent of water. I looked at mine, oozing brown onto the stones. Our notes would be well and truly ruined. Our other problem was, of course, the fact that we were wearing pretty much nothing. The yellow horror was somewhere at the bottom of the river. I was almost happy about that but still. I was wearing distinctly less than skinny Haruhi and wondered if the vest was the Japanese underwear style or something.

"So what are we going to do now?" She asked.

"Send up a flare?" I said, half-seriously, fumbling in the soaked bag for my purse. I clambered to my feet, shaking coins onto my hand. There wasn't much else to do but grin and bear the embarrassment. Haruhi looked at me before sighing. Looks like we were going shopping.

Quickly.

Drawing as little attention as possible.

Guess how well that went.


	4. Peace Offering

Chapter Four

Peace Offering

"Haruhi!" I hovered awkwardly near the door as the host club leapt to its feet, relief clear on their faces. Tamaki threw his arms around her, making her go red and glance back at me. I leaned against the frame and grinned. So that was one of the reasons she stayed here, huh?

"Where have you been? What happened?" He fussed.

"More importantly, what are you _wearing_?" One of the twins said in disgust, picking at the enormous jumper we'd haggled out of a second-hand shop and the thinning leggings.

"It's like we've taught you nothing," the other sighed in disappointment. Haruhi brushed their hands away.

"It's not a big deal. We lost our uniforms." Five pairs of eyes turned to me, trying to get a read on the situation. I shrugged, mightily uncomfortable. The top I'd managed to get for me was a little too tight and the trousers too big. We looked an absolute state but at least Haruhi looked distinctly unfeminine. Still, we'd snuck in through a rarely used entrance. It would not have been good running into anyone – for her, clients; for me, Tsubame.

"How… exactly?" Kyoya enquired, not looking up from his folder. Haruhi hesitated.

"We jumped off a bridge," I supplied, holding up my dripping school bag for confirmation. That, it seemed, was worth everyone looking up for.

"You did _what?!_" Tamaki cried. Haruhi put a hand on his arm.

"It wasn't on purpose…" She began.

"Well, it was," I added.

"We really had no choice," she revised and shot me a look. I shut up quickly. Tamaki looked between the two of us, frowning.

"Haru-chan, Haru-chan, you should get changed before you get in trouble," Honey said, standing on his chair. The blond boy seemed to relent and the twins reappeared from wherever they'd gone. One held a bag out to Haruhi.

"Good job we've got multiple spares, huh, Haruhi?" He joked.

"Thanks, Hikaru," she said, smiling. I watched with interest as Tamaki hovered, as though jealous, before she walked away towards the back. Interesting-er and interesting-er. I started when the other twin held a bag out to me. I backed off.

"Whoa, no, I'm good," I said automatically in English. They paused and I repeated it, kicking myself.

"You can't walk around like that," the twin said, raising an eyebrow. I looked down at myself. I really couldn't. But I also couldn't just take a uniform from these guys. There was no way I'd be able to pay them back. Plus, I think my tormentor would have a few choice things to say about me taking things from what appeared to be the most popular boys in school. I shrugged.

"I'll skip today. It's fine. I'll see myself out." I turned to go but found I was blocked by the one called Mori. I stared up at him and wondered if I could take him if I had to.

I decided on 'no'.

"What's the matter?" I was whirled away and forced into a chair. Tamaki knelt beside me. "You saved our Haruhi's life. Let us at least repay the favour this much." I pushed the bag away.

"Seriously, thank you, but no." I got up to move but found he was in my way.

"You know, he's pretty insistent," one twin said.

"You should probably let him have this," the other continued. I shook my head.

"I can't accept it because I can't pay you back for it at… at this time," I added quickly, so Aunt Chiyoko didn't order my head on a platter. "I'll be fine for the rest of the day. There's no need to worry." I tried to make a break for the door.

"Fukui Tsubame would not approve of that outfit." I froze and turned to stare at the glasses-clad host.

"What?" I stammered. He just looked at me and my insides shrivelled up. What else did this guy know? I glared back at him.

"Fine," I murmured, taking the bag from a surprised twin, and heading towards where Haruhi waited. He span me round.

"Whoa, where are you going?"

"To get changed…?" I said hesitantly.

"She's already seen me out of my clothes once today, Kaoru. I think she knows." Haruhi pulled me along after her as the boys started to comprehend that I did, in fact, know their little secret. Luckily, we got to the curtains before they exploded, which for some reason I thought they might.

"They're pretty protective, huh?" I commented as I peeled the damp shirt off.

"They can't help it. They're nice, I promise," Haruhi said, struggling her way out of the jumper. I chuckled and gave her a hand.

"So you and Tamaki, huh?" She went bright red before disappearing into the woollen folds.

"Was it-"

"That obvious?" I smirked, pulling it over her head. "Is he as idiotic as he appears to be?" She mused as she folded.

"Yes and no. He's carefree, most of the time. But he's not an idiot." I smiled at her.

"You really like him." She grinned.

"Yes, I do." She began taking her uniform from the bag. I looked at mine and sighed.

"I am so jealous that you can pull this whole guy thing off." She blinked, figured out my wording, and frowned.

"How so?" She asked. I held up the replacement uniform, which was just as fluffed up and pretentious as the first, if not more so.

"Have you seen this thing?" I shook it. "It is perhaps the _worst_ uniform I have ever seen."

"You don't like it?" She asked, surprised. I stared at her.

"What is this, the Victorian period? This thing is distinctly impractical. And anyway." I faced the mirror and scowled at my chest. "I'd have a job getting into a male uniform with these things." Haruhi giggled.

"You know, the rules aren't absolute," she said, slipping into her trousers. I looked at her.

"What d'you mean?"

"When I first arrived, I was wearing the closest thing I could afford to the uniform. They didn't mind. This is a school for the rich." She shook her head. "Do you not think the students have a little leeway with the rules?" My brain had got caught up and was working overtime.

"You're not rich," I said eventually. She blinked.

"No, I'm not."

"Which explains why you were downtown getting yourself killed this morning. You live there," I continued, connecting the dots of my brief epiphany. She nodded then tilted her head.

"Why were you down there? The Hayashi family are very prominent. Don't you own that big mall?" I winced and fiddled with opening of the dress. She wasn't wrong. I think. I knew very little about my own family and it kind of stung to know everyone else knew so much more.

"Many, many reasons," I said eventually. She eyed me in the mirror but didn't comment. I was grateful for that. I liked Haruhi. She was straight-forward, apart from the whole gender issue, which was honestly nothing compared to some of the kids who'd come in and out of my old Home. She was the first normal person I'd ran into at this school. Somehow, that said a lot about the kids with money.

"You know, I'm sure Hikaru and Kaoru could sort you out with an alternate uniform." I stopped, half in the dress.

"Please tell me you mean immediately." She laughed.

"No. Sorry, I don't." I swallowed my disappointment and commenced struggling with the outfit from hell. "But their mother is a huge fashion designer. They could probably come up with something acceptable." The mirror thought this was an excellent suggestion.

"Well, you witnessed how awful this thing is to run in." Haruhi smiled, doing up my back.

"Will you be doing that often?"

"More often than I would like," I admitted. She nodded, finishing. Her willingness to not pry was almost enough to make me hug her, but I had no idea if that was appropriate. We'd both witnessed the state the dress had got into before I gave it an un-ceremonial water burial. Maybe I could make this one last longer. I scraped my wet hair back into a long ponytail and decided I could ignore the squelching of my boots for the rest of the day.

"I'll mention it to them, if you want."

"I don't mind." Oh, I minded. And she knew it. She shook her head at me and I couldn't help but grin. She was alright, this one. I gathered up my things as she left, trying to think of a way to make earlier reflect well on me. I couldn't think of anything and realised I had to find a phone, quickly, before Yuri called someone he really shouldn't.

* * *

><p>Haruhi slipped back into the music room. Customers were already filing into the room, chatting to each other, being greeted by their hosts. She stood next to Tamaki.<p>

"It seems busy today." He looked down at her.

"Yes, it does." He peered closer. "Are you sure you're alright, Haruhi?" She smiled – she loved that warm, soft tone he saved just for her.

"I'm fine, Tamaki," she assured him.

"You fell off a bridge!"

"Jumped. And it's not like I haven't done that before." That shut him up. She looked around. "Are Hikaru and Kaoru free? I need to speak to them."

"Why?" He immediately asked suspiciously. Haruhi shot him a warning glance.

"For Katya." She stopped and looked around. The changing room curtain was pushed aside and empty. Haruhi frowned.

"What is it?"

"She's gone," she said quietly. They both looked around the music room but all the yellow dresses blended into one another – they saw nothing.

"She seems odd," Tamaki said quietly. "You don't think she'll tell everyone, do you?"

"About me?" Haruhi pondered for a minute. "No. I don't think she will. I like her," she added. Tamaki made a face.

"I've never heard of Hayashi Katya," he pouted.

"Well, you have now. She saved my life," Haruhi pointed out. He smiled down at her then froze.

"Wait, your life was in danger?!" She smiled as Kyoya walked up to them. He was deep into his notes once more, a slight frown on his face.

"Tamaki." Tamaki glanced up, suddenly serious.

"What is it?"

"I need to speak with you." Tamaki gave her a gentle smile before moving away with the shadow king. Haruhi wondered what was going on briefly before a giggler grabbed her arm and spirited her back into her bizarre everyday world.


	5. Something's Very Wrong Here

Chapter Five

Something's Very Wrong Here

I stared at the floor as I walked, my mind working furiously. There was literally no way to get out of this now. It seemed like everywhere I went I made enemies. Six days and Jai's crew was still scouring the neighbourhood searching for whichever rock I'd crawled under, forcing me to climb out of the apartment window and change at school. Yuri was not impressed with me, for a multitude of reasons – the most glaring of this being that they were now watching the apartment block and making things incredibly difficult for Sato family. I sighed, turning a corner and gripping my library books tight. I hadn't meant for any of this to happen. Whenever I tried to do what I thought was right, I messed up. I just _had _to protect Haruhi from those nutjobs, didn't I? I'd just ended up turning downtown into 'Spot The Katya' territory.

Drowning in my thoughts, I didn't see him, nor did I see the suddenly shining eyes of the girls on the corridor. If I had, I'd probably have slipped out of the way. Instead, I walked straight into someone hurrying in the opposite direction and a book slipped out of my hands.

"Sorry! Let me get that!" He bent down to pick up my book, brushing it off quickly.

"Whoa, cliché," I murmured. He looked up and the unusual amber of his eyes took me by surprise.

"What was that?"

"Oh. Um… no. Sorry. Nothing." I heard whispers start to fly up and down the corridor. It was becoming a problem that everyone in school thought I was a family failure of some sort, though they didn't quite know how. Obviously, not many of them knew my unfortunate situation. Tsubame was keeping that under wraps. I'm assuming that's because bullying was actually not allowed in this school, though I'm pretty damn certain it was regularly ignored. There was a hierarchy system and I was chilling on the bottom rung.

"It's Hayashi Katya, right?" I started and stared at him.

"Uh… yeah." He smiled at me and it clicked in my head. I hadn't recognised him alone.

"Oh! You're…" I had no idea which twin it was. He stepped in to fill my awkward pause.

"Hitachiin Kaoru," he said and grinned at me. I smiled back, more in relief than anything else. He looked down at the book in his hand and tilted his head with a frown.

"Kokoro?" I reached out to take it from him. Instead, he managed to slip the rest of the book out of my hands with the deftness of someone who'd done this many, many times before.

"Hey!"

"Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata? Woman in the Dunes? The Temple of the Golden Pavilion?" He said in disbelief. "These are some serious reading." I snatched them back, folding my arms over them. He ran a hand through his auburn hair and gave me a smile. Well, a smile doesn't really do it justice. It was a smirk, but not like Tsubame's – it was amused and friendly at the same time. Something about this guy was throwing me off and I wasn't quite sure what it was.

And if there's something I dislike, it's not knowing something.

"Sorry about that," I said and started to move past him. He caught my arm.

"Oh, hey, Haruhi was looking for you. Why don't you come up to the music room?"

"I… uh…" Honestly, I was spending every spare minute I could doing my homework. It turned out that having to stay away from all windows and doors all the time left very little time for studying. If this carried on for much longer I was going to fall behind.

"Yeah, sure." Wait, _what?_ Kaoru grinned.

"Great!" I almost tripped falling into step beside him, wondering what on earth possessed me to leave my History assignment unfinished. I snuck a sideways glance at him, his hands folded behind his head, the very epitome of relaxed and confident. He was talking about an assignment he'd had to do on one of the books. Conversation was so easy for him. How did anyone get that way? From being rich and powerful, I supposed. My gaze slid back to him again. Was it just his confidence that made him so attractive? No, it probably wasn't. In the Host Club, they all seemed to be… well, gorgeous. This school had no idea how lucky it was.

I fiddled with the loose spine on _Woman in the Dunes_ as we climbed the stairs, listening to his interpretations. I was about to add to the conversation when a quiet snap caught my attention.

In the corner of my eye, I could see her. Tsubame looked more furious than I'd ever seen her, paper in her hand scrunched into an unrecognisable mess. Besides her, Akemi started to look round. I stopped walking and glanced at them. This was probably a really bad idea. In fact, from the scowl on her face, this was already a really bad idea.

"You coming, Katya?" I looked back at Kaoru, who, in true host style, placed a hand on the small of my back and propelled me through the door. I glimpsed Tsubame's eyes widen before I disappeared into the music room.

Well, it looked like it couldn't get much worse.

"Where have you _been_, Kaoru?" The other twin, Hikaru almost threw himself towards his brother, his expression a mix between annoyance and worry. The host club members were huddled around a table, the notebook in front of Kyoya capturing everyone's attention – except, obviously, Hikaru's. I half-suspected he'd been pacing back and forth, waiting for Kaoru. Haruhi looked up from the meeting they seemed to be having and smiled.

"Katya!"

"Hey, Haruhi," I grinned. Hikaru seemed to notice me for the first time and frowned as I moved away, leaving the twins to fall into conversation. Haruhi got up from the table and the looks I got made me think I'd interrupted something.

"I can come back later," I told her.

"Don't worry. We're just going over plans for the next week. They can manage without me for a moment." Without her, sure, but not their lord, who crouched on his chair and peered at us suspiciously.

"Kaoru said you wanted to-"

"The twins actually think an alternative uniform could be good. Well," she shrugged, "They said it might be 'fun' to make, which qualifies their interest."

"That's good. So… what did you need me for?" She cocked her head.

"Input." I pulled a blank. "Well, we don't want them going overboard. They can be a little… overzealous when it comes to things like this. We should probably steer them in the right direction. What do you think?" I glanced over at the twins, who were having a particularly animated discussion, which was less of a discussion and more of an affectionate battle.

"You can steer those guys?" I asked, disbelieving. She chuckled.

"In a way." Kaoru glanced over at me and flashed a grin. I dropped my eyes before I realised what I was doing. Goddamn, Katya, get a grip.

"Perhaps Katya should join us this evening." We looked back at Kyoya.

"Huh?" The twins paused their mock argument.

"That's a good idea," Haruhi said after moment.

"Wait, it is?" Hikaru broke away from his brother. She looked at him.

"Please, Hikaru." His face twisted and he relented. I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to figure everyone out. HonesltTamaki jumped onto his chair.

"Of course it's a good idea!" The blond bombshell immediately took over the conversation. "You can spend time with Haruhi and-" He was immediately silenced by Haruhi's glare and Honey giggled. They obviously knew how that sentence was going to go. The in-joke was kind of lost on me.

"Want to fill me in?" I asked quietly.

"Everyone's coming over to ours tonight," Kaoru said from behind me. "It'd be cool if you came. Our house is only a couple down from the Hayashi place. So we could get this uniform done in a couple of hours, probably." Hikaru shot a look at his brother.

"Oh… uh…" I was really intrigued. And it would probably be a good idea to give the Sato's a night off from Katya-watching. I nodded.

"Great!" One twin smiled at me.

The other didn't.

* * *

><p>I left them to their planning, peering around the door before I left. Tsubame and friends were nowhere to be seen. I breathed a sigh of relief and headed down to my next class, half bummed that I hadn't managed to finish my essay. Perhaps I could finish it at the Hitachiin house… if I ever found it. I'd only been to the Hayashi mansion once and that was when I first arrived. The reception had not been good; I'd been almost forcibly removed after an hour and they bought me a room in the cheapest block they could find. I almost thought they'd be glad to have me killed off by the gangs in the area. Then at least the order of inheritance would start making sense to them again.<p>

It was still early but I hung around outside the classroom, waiting for the bell to ring. I preferred being alone in school or at least, I thought I did. The crazy group was beginning to grow on me and I found myself smiling.

"Oh, hell," I muttered, leaning back against the wall. This had all the making of a potentially bad ending. Eventually, the guys would figure out that I wasn't like them – not rich, not sophisticated, not confident, not carefree – and the shame it'd bring upon my family would have them hating my guts until the end of time, if I didn't already hold that pleasure. I was burying myself in stress; between schoolwork and family and money troubles and Jai and Fukui Tsubame, I barely had any nails left to bite. And Tsubame was obviously not pleased with my new associates. If looks could kill, I'd currently be lying at the bottom of the stairs in an unnoticed mangle of commoner. I briefly wondered how Jai and Tsubame would get along and dismissed it before my brain imploded from terror. It was official: I was a complete moron. Why had I agreed to hang out with the Host Club?

More to the point, why had they asked me?

It was probably Haruhi, I decided. She didn't seem to have many girl friends. In fact, she didn't seem to have any at all. That was probably why Tamaki was so for it. Though, it wasn't like I was much better. Maybe this would be good for me, I thought as I composed a text to Yuri on the new brick of a phone that had replaced my waterlogged Android. Aunt Chiyoko had really outdone herself on that little piece of spite.

And anyway, I grinned, what Tsubame didn't know couldn't hurt me.


	6. The Rabbit Hole Has Columns

Chapter Six

The Rabbit Hole Has Columns

I slid the book into the back of my bag, feeling blindly for my phone. It had become a habit to not switch my light on now. Yuri stood in the doorway nervously.

"You're really going out?" He seemed halfway between worried and relieved.

"Yeah."

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know. Late." My plan was to stay out as long as humanely possible. There was a point in the very early morning when none of Jai's cronies were around, almost like they were switching to the day crew. It didn't matter how long I stayed at the Hitachiin house for – if I was in a good neighbourhood, I could just wander for a few hours. As long as I avoided any and all contacts with my fellow Hayashi's, that is.

"And you're going nowhere." Yuri made a distinctly unimpressed face. I sighed, pushing some pencils into the gaps.

"We went over this. If you don't know, they can't learn it." This made complete logical sense, we both knew, but Yuri had gotten really protective lately and he hated that I wouldn't tell him anything. His head would probably explode when I did. Suzu wandered in sleepily.

"Kat-chan, Kat-chan, where are you going?" She pouted. Pausing a moment, I grinned at her.

"I'm just visiting a friend," I assured her.

"Yuri said you didn't have friends." Yuri whistled as I shot daggers at him. Ass.

"Well, I do." I zipped my bag closed and swung it onto my back. Suzu clambered onto my bed.

"But what about storytime?" She asked, making her eyes as big as possible.

"Yuri can do it tonight."

"That's not fair!" She cried. "He doesn't do it right like you do!" I laughed at Yuri's immense frustration at pleasing his tiny demanding sister. Apparently, he'd been just fine until I'd come in and blown everyone else out of the water. Now Suzu rarely went to bed without at least one chapter of something.

"Maybe you should read to him. Show him how it's done." I winked at her and stepped away from her sudden burst of excitement. Yuri shot me a look.

"Now she won't sleep until I've got it right," he sighed as I cracked open the window. "Front door still out of bounds."

"Tattoos and Jockey are still down there." My English nicknames were fitting but lost on Yuri. Jockey was an incredibly short but incredibly fast gang member with an annoying laugh. Tattoos was a skinny dude with two arms and a leg sleeved in various depictions of what we'd decided were probably kaijus but considering his dangerous appearance, neither the Sato's nor I had got close enough to confirm it.

"Daisuke's going to watch the door tonight," Yuri said, handing me one end of the rope. I tied it around my middle with a quick nod. The second oldest Daisuke was intimidating to most people. Pairing him against Jockey was a good move. "He'll text you when they clear out."

"Thank him for me." Yuri shook his head, moving past me.

"You're basically family now. If you try and thank them, they'll probably take offence," he told me quietly as he checked the ground below.

"Thanks for the warning."

"Clear." We switched places and I swung out onto the drainpipe. A couple of minutes later, I untied the rope and gave it three sharp tugs. Yuri reeled it in through the window and closed the window with only the slightest hesitation. With a small smile and a telepathic apology, I used the swiped key to unlock Yuri's bike and set off. He probably wouldn't mind me using it except he had somewhere to be early and if I didn't come back… well. As my 'Big Sister' had told me a long time ago, it was much easier to ask for forgiveness than to beg for permission.

Although she got arrested for shoplifting two years later, so I'm not entirely sure what that was supposed to teach me.

The hairs suddenly stood up on the back of my neck and I skidded to a stop, scanning my surroundings. The late hour bathed everything in an orange light and my eyes flicked from shadow to growing shadow nervously. After moment, I rubbed the back of my neck and smirked at myself. I was way too nervous.

"Pull it together, Katya," I muttered.

"That's excellent advice." I whipped around, the bike clattering to the ground. Jai sneered at me from the top of the wall, turning his cigarette box over and over in his hands. His black hair was tied back and I wondered if breaking his prominent cheekbones would hurt. It annoyed me that he was good-looking, but it was definitely offset by the amount of pain he liked to cause.

"I figured you'd be using some clever trick to get in and out the back. What is it? A door I don't about?" I backed up, almost tripping over the bike, and shrugged.

"A magician never reveals their secrets," I quipped. Jai grinned.

"Fair enough." He jumped down from the wall and pocketed the box. "You've given us the run-around for a while now, English. That takes guts. I'm almost impressed."

"Really? That wasn't exactly the aim." He laughed.

"I guess not. It really has been getting under my skin, though." He pulled out a switchblade and my blood ran cold. "And I really don't like that." I felt behind me for the handles, cursing inwardly, as he walked towards me.

"I really wouldn't do that if I were you," I told him. He cocked his head. He was getting closer. My hand closed on cold metal.

"Oh really?" Jai narrowed his eyes. "What exactly are you going to do about it?" He took another step. Perfect.

"Not much," I admitted and swung the bike round. I missed, completely, but he jumped back with a choice obscenity I hadn't heard before, giving me enough time to get back on the bike.

"Get back here, you little bitch!"

"No thanks!" I yelled back, zooming out of sight. There was a reason I could ride a bike and not drive a car, I thought as I jumped it into a side street. They made much better get-away vehicles. I'd like to see James Bond navigate these alley ways in that Aston Martin of his.

* * *

><p>I was so focussed on not being followed that I didn't notice how far I'd come until I skidded to a halt in the bright light of the upper-class district, the sun now set. I squinted down the road, rows of gates with no houses in sight. With a glance the way I'd come, I pedalled down until I reached the garish, obnoxious gate I recognised. The family name was twisted into the metal of the gates in Japanese, glinting in the bright streetlights. I wondered in Aunt Chiyoko was in there. They were probably sitting down for a silent meal, waited upon by their overworked staff, sniffing at every sound made.<p>

Feeling childish, I stuck my tongue out at the distant house.

"Okay…" Kaoru had said they only lived a few houses down from the Hayashi house. Considering how spaced out these gates were, I hoped it wasn't more than five. The houses and their land were much too big to even fathom cycling further than that. I'd already crossed half the city on this thing and my legs were killing me. It was a damn good thing I'd left early.

I started down the road, peering at the names on each side of the road. Some of them were completely unpronounceable and I hoped to all hell I'd be able to recognise the name written in Japanese.

As it happened, I did.

I swung off my bike and approached the gates. I could actually see the house here and it was a white, almost mock-roman piece of architecture, with its columns and its huge windows. I stared at it, processing.

The processing took a little longer than I though.

A couple of minutes later, I'd found enough courage to ring the bell on the side and waited by the speaker. Seconds later, it sparked into life.

"Hitachiin residence. Who is calling?"

"Uh, I… Hayashi Katya?" I winced at the amount of idiocy I could convey in one sentence. There was a pause. I looked around me nervously. It'd do me no good for Jai to catch up with me now.

"Are you expected, Mistress Hayashi?" The man on the other side said eventually.

"I think so. The twins…" Oh gods, what if they'd forgotten? Or changed their minds? What if this was all a cruel joke? That sounded about right and would explain pretty much everything. I steeled myself to what was about to happen.

"Of course. Please enter, Mistress Hayashi." The gate began to creak open.

Oh.

I approached the house as the gates swung shut behind me, walking past four cars of varying shininess. Light spilled out of the main door, the silhouette of a figure marring the image. I stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked up. The butler-type looked down on me – in every sense of the phrases.

"Mistress Hayashi?" I could almost hear the sigh in his voice. I nodded mutely. He waved to a younger man, who darted forwards to take my bike.

"It will be returned to you when you wish to leave." I looked at him, feeling suspiciously like they'd just taken a hostage – in case I turned out to be a burglar or something, I guess. It wasn't even my bike. I let it go without a fuss.

"Please, follow me to the great room," the butler said. I grinned.

"What's so great about it?" I immediately regretted my decision to speak. He strode stiffly ahead of me, a look of utter disapproval on his face. I shoved my hands into my pockets and meekly followed him. I hadn't been there two minutes and they already didn't like me.

"Masters Hitachiin, your final guest has arrived," the butler intoned. They looked up from the sofa they were sprawled on, looking through folders. Haruhi sat cross-legged on the floor next to Tamaki, who was furiously playing Tekken against a stone-faced Mori. He wasn't winning. Kyoya looked up with a small smile that had to mean _something_.

"Katya-chan!" I caught the flying Honey and eased him back to the floor. He looked at me with adorable eyes. "We're so glad you made it!" He grinned, hugging his bunny tighter. He led me back to the group, skipping as he did so. I sat down next to Haruhi, who gave me a smile and held up the folder she had.

"We were looking through some school designs," she said by way of explanation.

"Oh, cool." I brushed my hair out of my face. The twins sat up in sync.

"You look like you ran here," Hikaru grinned.

"Cycled," I corrected him.

"You only live up the road."

"I had to take a detour." That wasn't exactly a lie. I'd taken a pretty big detour but I think the alleys had gotten me here quicker than the main road would have. Still, I was breathing a bit hard and the adrenaline that had kept me going early was wearing off fast. I hid the shaking of my legs by folding them under me. He peered at me.

"Knock it off, Hikaru," Haruhi said wearily. He stuck his tongue out and opened the folders again. Kaoru winked at me before going back to his.

"Take a look." I glanced at what Haruhi was showing me. I tilted my head at the three-quarter trousers and blazer combo.

"Seems practical." She cast a grin at the twins.

"See? Practical." She looked back at me. "They were trying to go flashy." They looked at her with mock hurt.

"There is nothing wrong with flashy," Kaoru said. I noticed what they were wearing for the first time – they went in for layers, and everything screamed designer. Hadn't Haruhi said their mother was a designer? That would probably explain a lot.

"I don't think that's what I'd be going for." They all looked at me and I was suddenly very self-conscious of having said it.

"Do you not like fashion, Katya-chan?" Honey asked me, his bunny sitting happily on his shoulders. Nervous that he'd hit the nail on the head, I searched for an appropriate answer and shrugged.

"I guess I've never really paid any attention to it." This was apparently not the appropriate answer. The twins sat up straight and Tamaki look sharply away from his screen, causing Mori's character to sidekick him out of the ring.

"You should _always_ pay attention to fashion!" Hikaru said horrified.

"Fashion is the icing to a cake of beauty and perfection!" Tamaki added, gesturing wildly.

"Fashion is a statement. It says who you are," Kaoru continued. I looked down at myself.

"I don't think I have a statement."

"Everyone has a statement!" I was pulled suddenly to my feet and placed in the dead centre of the room. The three of them stood in a line and looked at me with narrowed eyes, whispering. I was suddenly very aware of what I was wearing. I'd thrown on an old pair of jeans, a plain blue t-shirt and a jumper I'd had for years. And I'm pretty sure at least two of them were originally from Primark. I looked down at my scruffy trainers and realised I looked nothing like a Hayashi at this moment.

"Ooooh, what's Katya-chan's statement?" Honey said, bouncing on the sofa excitedly. I cast Haruhi a desperate look but she spread her hands and went back to the folder. Apparently she had no control over them.

The twins crossed the arms as Tamaki circled me, fingers on his lips.

"It's very interesting," he said, lifting my arm. I snatched it back.

"Cheap chic? Is that still a thing?" Kaoru murmured.

"I'm not sure," Hikaru said back quietly. "Maybe it's rebellion?"

"This is just how I dress, guys. I doesn't say anything," I insisted.

"On the contrary." We looked at Kyoya. "It says you got dressed quickly and with little consequence to how it made you look." I almost blushed. I actually hadn't even thought about that. I'd dressed to climb down the side of a building and out-cycle Jai. I hadn't thought about the reaction of the Host Club.

"That could be it," Hikaru said thoughtfully. I sighed.

"Okay, you got me. That's it. Can we move on?"

"Not at all!" Tamaki spun me round, a pained look on his face. "A princess that does not care about her appearance is too sad! Robbing the world of your beauty is a crime. A crime!" The twins nodded sagely.

"No, it's just clothes," I said firmly, removing his hands from my shoulders. They recoiled with a gasp. Haruhi chuckled.

"You've done it now."

"Done what?" I asked uneasily and looked back at the boys. There was something predatory in their eyes that made me take a small step back. She stood up slowly, brushing down her trousers.

"Makeover?" The twins said together, almost too eagerly. Tamaki drew himself up. I held up my hands.

"Whoa. Whoa, no."

"They did it to me when they first met me. Just let it happen. Trust me on this," she advised and I looked back at my dying shoes. I wish I could but I couldn't. A makeover to make me look like I fit in would do anything but that. Tsubame wouldn't like it and it might stir Jai up if I look like an uptowner. I snapped out a hand and the creeping twins stopped in their tracks, staring at my palms.

"No way," I stated. There was a pause as everyone waited. To everyone's surprise, they straightened and grinned evilly at each other before slinking back to the sofa. Haruhi handed me a folder.

"Now they'll take it as a challenge, you know," she warned me. I looked at them.

"Bring it," I said in English and winked back at them. Their plotting turned to confusion and I turned back to Haruhi with a small laugh. She gave me an appreciative smile and pointed across the page.

"I thought maybe if we steer them more towards this…"

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: If you've actually read this far, I'm actually quite impressed with you. This is my own selfish little project and it seems you guys don't mind that. Excellent! Here's my own little request - review and tell me what you think! Everyone needs an ego boost now and then to keep them motivated. I hope it's not moving too slowly for you and, in case you were wondering, of <strong>course<strong> there's a plan for where this is going._

_But of course I won't tell you._


	7. The Lesser Twin Paradox

Chapter Seven

The Lesser Twin Paradox

"Oi. Katya." I lifted my head from my desk and squinted at the shadowy figures above me.

"Whu?" I asked sleepily before shooting straight. There was no one else in the classroom, student or teachers. "What the- what time is it?"

"It's start of lunch period," Kaoru said.

"You've been asleep for forty minutes, apparently," Hikaru tutted. I gazed in horror at the blank board.

"Oh no…" I'd slept through the class. I'd actually slept through it. I looked down at my book, which contained half the notes. What was I going to do? I collapsed back into my seat and covered my eyes. I was so tired. I hadn't been able to get back into the house until the sun started coming up, at which point I'd only had time to grab my uniform and run. Yuri had been going mad, considering both I and the bike were missing. I hadn't managed to finish my essay either.

"I'm so screwed." I heard one rifle through my notes.

"Oh, we did this last year," Hikaru said. "You'll be fine. It's not that hard."

"Yeah, if it were in English." I was still struggling with my writing. My reading was coming along, though. I looked through my fingers at them. "What're you guys doing here anyway?"

"Well, when you didn't come to the music room, we came to find you." Kaoru grinned and Hikaru rolled his eyes.

"Oh!" I'd completely forgotten. I began to tidy up my notes. "I'm really sorry. I'll be there in ten minutes," I assured them. They looked at each other.

"Nah." Kaoru grabbed my wrist and Hikaru scooped up my stuff into his arms. I stumbled after them, past wide-eyed girls that waited outside the classroom to see what the famous Hitachiin twins were up to.

"Wait, hold up!" I stammered, eyes on the old books Hikaru was carefully balancing. Kaoru glanced back at me and grinned.

"Just wait til you see it!" He said enthusiastically. I tried not to trip over my feet.

"You can't have finished it already…"

"Heh," they said, sharing a proud look.

"You underestimate us!" Hikaru grinned, leaving me halfway between worried and excited as they pulled me into the music room. I stumbled to a stop. Haruhi grinned at me, standing next to a mannequin. I stared at it.

"What do you think, Katya?" She asked. I felt the twins close behind, measuring my reaction. The new outfit combined the beige vests the male students got with the red ribbon from the female uniform, with an altered blazer over the top. The skirt was above the knee but pinned up as it was, I could see the shorts underneath. I stared at it.

"Oh my god." I shook my head. "You did all that last night? That's amazing!" The twins shared a proud grin.

"We thought you'd like it."

"It's 'practical'," Kaoru said, making exaggerated quotation marks in the air. I moved around it.

"I'm serious. This is perfect!" It was an excellent blend of the Ouran uniform and the everyday schools. Plus, I could definitely run in this thing. I grinned, lifting a sleeve. I couldn't believe they'd done this for me. I looked at them and their beams stopped me in my tracks.

"What?" I asked suspiciously. They shrugged.

"Nothing," Hikaru said, smirking.

"Put it on, put it on!" Kaoru and Tamaki insisted, pushing me towards the changing rooms. Mori picked up the mannequin Haruhi was trying to pull and carried it ahead of us. He placed it in the room and Kaoru pushed me in. Haruhi pulled Tamki away with an apologetic glance.

"Be quick," he said excitedly. I paused as a thought struck me and I turned back.

"Wait, how did you get my measurements…" Kaoru winked at me and closed the curtains. I stared at the mannequin. Well, that was a weird talent to have. I looked down at the puffiness and did a little dance of joy before stripping down.

Did I mention that I hated that thing?

* * *

><p>"You alright, Katya?"<p>

"Ribbons are the most annoying things on the planet," I said, pushing the curtain aside. Kaoru looked up as I pulled the bow out with a sigh of frustration.

"Here," he said, taking the ribbon from my hands and looping it around my collar. I watched him. There was something about this one. I still couldn't get a read on him. His long fingers twisted the ribbon into something presentable and stopped.

"You're much better at that than me," I said with a smile. He glanced at me and went slightly pink. There was a moment's pause before he pulled his hands away, running one through his hair. I stared at him.

Well, that couldn't be the right reading, I was sure.

"Hey, that looks great, Katya!" Haruhi came around the corner.

"Yeah," Kaoru muttered, walking out past her. She watched him go with a frown.

"Is he okay?" She asked.

"I think so," I said, without much confidence. I quickly decided I didn't want this conversation to continue. I'd never been good at reading boys. Ever. Unless they wanted to kill me. Which happened more often than you'd think.

"So what do you think? Really?" I gestured down at myself. She looked at the uniform I was wearing and smiled her approval.

"It looks great," she said earnestly. I looked back at the mirror behind me. I had to admit, the twins had done a bang-up job on this one. I had no idea how they'd managed to make me look presentable but they had. Haruhi crossed her arms.

"Am I allowed to wear this?" I asked hopefully. She nodded.

"Of course. Tamaki mentioned it to his father the other day. He thought it was a great idea. He's already posting the new uniform option online. I think it's being recommended to athletic students." I paused, trying to piece that sentence together.

"Uh… and his father is…?" She laughed.

"Oh! His father's the school chairman." My mouth fell open as I stared at her reflection. Knowing Tamaki, that made so little sense. I'd met the school chairman when I was first enrolled. He was so… so… not Tamaki. Haruhi saw my brain failing and pulled on my arm.

"Come on, let's go and show the others!" I allowed her to pull me along, still trying to work out how the strict chairman equalled Tamaki. I was sure I must have missed something here.

I stumbled gracelessly into the main part of the room.

"Tada!" The twins yelled from behind me, throwing their arms into the air. I span around.

"Hikaru!" I cried, diving forwards to catch my books before they hit the ground, letting my notes and stationary clatter to the floor. The twins looked at each other as I checked them over for damage. There was nothing wrong with them. I sighed in relief and shot him a look.

"You're lucky these are okay," I warned him and then stopped. The atmosphere had completely changed when I wasn't paying attention. Everyone in the room was staring at me. Even Kyoya had dragged himself from the depths of his folder. I hugged the books to me, suddenly nervous.

"What… what did I do?" I asked, looking between them. Haruhi started to smile and pushed away from the table, which told me absolutely nothing. The twins tilted their heads together.

"Was that a guess?" They said. I looked at them, wanting to help Haruhi as she started to pick up my things.

"I don't follow," I said honestly. Their eyes grew bigger but they didn't say anything – they just went distinctly grey. I stepped away from them.

"Okaaaay, you're really freaking me out, guys," I laughed uncertainly. "What's the deal?" In a second they turned and walked away. I looked at the others desperately.

"You can tell them apart," Kyoya stated, seeming surprised. I frowned.

"This… is a bad thing?" I said slowly, looking at the dropped jaws. Haruhi shook her head.

"No. They're just not used to it," she said, handing me my notes. "I guessed you could last night but I thought they might react… oddly." We both looked at the door the twins had gone through.

"That's an understatement," I agreed then frowned. "Are they mad at me?"

"No. Just processing. So are these guys," she said, pointing back at the table. The other hosts had gathered into a huddle and were shooting me shocked glances every now and then. I raised my eyebrows at them in disbelief. Surely they could tell the twins apart? From the small head shake Haruhi gave me, they apparently couldn't.

Weird.

* * *

><p>"You said you wanted to speak to me, Kyoya?" He turned to face me as I pushed off the doorframe. The music room was completely empty. The day's activities had been cleared up and the other hosts had cleared off. The school was rapidly emptying of people. I wasn't too bothered about going home late. It meant there was no way I'd run into Tsubame, at least. Kyoya nodded.<p>

"Yes. Thank you for coming." He sat down at the table. I remained standing. It felt like one of those meetings.

"Did the twins ever come back?" I enquired after a moment. He didn't look up from his folder.

"Yes. They completed their club activities with their usual gusto. It was wise, I think, for you not to be there," he replied.

"Why's that?"

"They would become exceptionally distracted. You see, there are very few people who can tell the Hitachiin twins apart. Three of them are their immediate family. One is Haruhi." He glanced up. "And now you."

"Oh." I didn't know why I felt guilty for that. I didn't even know how I could tell them apart. Maybe it was the way we interacted or something. I bit my lip. Kyoya didn't seem to have an opinion either way on this development.

"So you would see how their minds might not be on their work." He looked back down. "Kaoru especially." I started.

"What?" He just gave a small smile and we lapsed into silence. My mind was whirling with reasons for that statement until I firmly shut that line of questioning down. Kyoya liked to manipulate. He was probably just winding me up to see how I'd react. I fidgeted for a few minutes until I couldn't take it anymore. The suspense was killing me.

"Alright, enough. What's with covertness?" I asked eventually. "You asked me to meet you after everyone went home. I'm here. Now spill. What, are we plotting to rob a bank or something?" He gave a small chuckle.

"Nothing quite so drastic, I'm afraid. But then, I think you have your fair share of excitement." I narrowed my eyes at him as he took off his glasses and polished them.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Neither of us spoke but we both knew I was lying. I sighed.

"Fine. Let's assume whatever you think you know about me is true." I folded my arms. "What exactly is it that you want, Kyoya?" He smiled at me and I realised he might be more dangerous to me than I'd originally thought.

"I want to offer you a job." He waved a hand as I opened my mouth. "Obviously I'll have to test your capabilities before we finalise it. But I am fairly certain I haven't underestimated you." He looked over his glasses at me. I thought about it for a moment and leant against the chair in front of me.

"When do we start?"


	8. First Rule Of Fight Club

Chapter Eight

First Rule Of Fight Club

"Let me see if I've got this right," Yuri said, applying ice to my eye. The room was in darkness as per usual and the vague happy sounds of Suzu singing along to her daily programme bounced around the living room. I pushed strands of hair out of the eye I could still see out of. My face hurt. Actually, every part of me hurt but my face was where it was much more noticeable. Hence Yuri's reaction of horror when I'd stumbled through the front door early. "You had a fight with Haninozuka Mitsukuni. _The_ Haninozuka Mitsukuni."

"That sounds about right," I said, tipping my head back and hoping my nose didn't start bleeding again. Yuri shook his head.

"Why the hell did you start a fight with him, of all people?" I grinned and then quickly stop as pain flared along the side of my face.

"I didn't start a fight with him. Although some warning on him being the 'Champion of Kicking Ass' would have been nice," I added with a glare that he blatantly ignored. "I told you, it was a job interview."

"A job interview," Yuri said sceptically.

"Come on, you know this!" I protested. He rolled his eyes. I _had_ told him. After the meeting with Kyoya, we'd discussed his possible motives in depth – at that point, I had been a lot more cynical than little Host Club fanboy here. "It was all completely fine."

"Yeah, because this looks completely fine." I narrowed my good eye.

"You're learning sarcasm from me. I don't approve." He struggled not to smile and fixed me with a stern look.

"Honestly, Katya, you can't keep doing this."

"Oh, come on, I'm not doing anything. I'm fine. I've had worse," I assured him, completely honestly. Nothing was broken. I'd have some heavy bruising but that wasn't any different from a normal day. I knew what he meant though. Between escaping Jai, the mysterious school fights I was apparently having and now this, it probably looked to Yuri that I had nothing better to do with my life than beat the shit out of other people.

Well, have the shit beaten out of me, more accurately.

"You do realise you're a complete idiot," he told me, wiping dried blood from my face. I glanced at him as he unintentionally echoed someone else's words. The rest of the host club had had pretty much the same reaction walking in on the fight.

'_I guess we should call it there,' Kyoya said, standing to field the confusion that was about to happen._

'_One more time.' They all looked at me. I wiped my cheek, ignoring the streak of red._

'_Katya…'_

'_One more time,' I repeated. Kyoya hesitated and then sat down. Honey looked from me, to him, to the other hosts. I could get this. It shouldn't be this difficult. My hair swung down into my face, my hair tie somewhere on the floor. I tried to ignore the people behind me and narrowed my eyes._

'_Alright.' He reopened his notebook. 'Again.'_

I hadn't got it. In fact, I'd lasted less than two minutes that time, taking Honey's foot to my chest and leaving me coughing on my back. Kyoya said he'd ignored that – apparently I was 'distracted'. I groaned and leant back against the wall, parts of me that had no business throbbing painfully doing just that as they tried to heal.

An idiot, huh?

I looked out of the window at the distant glowing lights of the upper district.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "Yeah, I know."

* * *

><p>Tamaki folded his arms and scowled. The hosts were gathered around the table and none of them were particularly happy. Honey was cuddling his bunny unhappily as Mori tried to convince him that no one was angry at him at all. This was mostly true – most of it was aimed solely at Kyoya, who seemed less than bothered.<p>

"Kyoya, I thought we talked about this."

"And I thought a demonstration would help sway your opinions." Haruhi glared at Kyoya, sitting silently in her chair next to Tamaki. She didn't voice an opinion.

"A demonstration? We had to send her _home_, Kyoya!" Kaoru protested. The shadow king sighed.

"Which was actually quite a bad idea, all things considering," he muttered, making a note before looking up at Tamaki. "Can you deny it would be a good idea?" The blond boy cocked his head.

"How did she do?" He asked.

"At her best, she lasted for more than fifteen minutes against a member of the Haninozuka family. Even if it wasn't at full strength, that's acceptably impressive." Their lord took a moment, considering.

"I'm actually inclined to agree," he eventually said, his reluctance obvious. Kaoru stood up, annoyed.

"Hold on, m'lord. We don't need security!"

"We can handle ourselves," Hikaru continued, joining his brother. Kyoya sighed and put down his folder.

"Let me see if I can explain this in a way you will understand. As a host club, it is unfortunate that we have had to escort patrons from the premises ourselves. Not only does it eat into the customers' time, but it occasionally ruins the persona we have built around ourselves. It would benefit us greatly if we showed even problematic customers would not tear us away from our guests."

"Why not ask someone from the karate club, or the kendo club?" Haruhi asked.

"Another male would be perceived as a host," Kyoya explained. "The person hired had to be completely separate from the club itself. If you need more persuasion, Katya comes with the added bonus of being familiar with Haruhi's secret and has shown she's willing to keep it. Would you want to risk introducing someone else to the club?" He gave everyone a dead stare. The twins looked at each other, not convinced.

"I think it'd a good idea." Everyone looked at Honey, who smiled brightly. "She'll be good at it."

"I agree with Mitsukuni," Mori said.

"Of course you do," Hikaru said, pulling a face.

"Perhaps the person with the most experience with her should have a say." Everyone looked at Haruhi, who shrugged.

"She'd be very good at it," she admitted. Kyoya smiled.

"Excellent. If there are no more objections, I suggest we make the change immediately." Hikaru glanced at his brother. No one said anything.

"Good. That covers that. Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?"

* * *

><p>My phone buzzed, waking me up from an unexpected nap. I pushed the mess of hair from my face and fumbled for my phone, occasionally muttering 'ow'. I stared at the bright screen until my vision came back.<p>

_Are you okay? _I rolled over, wincing, and clumsily formulated a reply.

_I'm fine, Haruhi. What happened after I left?_

_Kyoya convinced everyone, after a while. They'll be fine with it. _I sighed in relief. This job thing hadn't quite turned out like I'd hoped it would. Damn Kyoya and his scheming. He knew I wouldn't turn this down – I could really use the money he offered. Luckily he made this work. A thought occurred to me. I lifted my phone to write back, accidentally dropping into onto my face when I was done. It caught my bad eye and I hissed but was too lazy to move it.

_You never did expand on the bridge thing, huh?_ The phone buzzed, send shock waves of pain into my brain. I snatched it up.

_No, I didn't. _I sat up straight, a thought suddenly crossing my mind.

_You haven't seen him again, have you?_

_No. _She sent back immediately.

_Good. _

"That's good," I muttered, sinking back down. I felt awful that I hadn't even thought about that. Jai could have tracked her down at any point while I was playing Miss Self-Pity. Luckily she had the whole gender-switch thing going on.

_Do me a favour, Haruhi._

_What is it?_

_Don't wear your uniform around your home. Be really careful. This guy, he's not just your usual street thug. He's dangerous. _I ran a hand through my hair before adding:

_Really dangerous. _

_Deal. Although you do realise you'll have to explain some of this at some point. _She told me. I chuckled.

_Whatever you say._ I rolled onto my left, rotating my right shoulder til it stopped aching. After a couple of minutes, the phone almost buzzed itself off the table.

_You should see a doctor or something._ I glanced at the bottom of my bed. Suzu was curled up in a ball, her thumb in her mouth and a toy stethoscope around her neck.

"You look like you fought a truck," she'd said when she first started playing nurse with me.

"And lost," Yuri had added before Dr Suzu had chased him from the room. She'd fallen asleep ten minutes later.

_Don't worry. I've got that covered. _I told her with a smile.

_Good. Use the weekend to get better. See you Monday, head of security._

_Yes, ma'am. See you then. _I stared at the ceiling and grinned. Maybe this would work out after all.


	9. Out In The Crowd

Chapter Nine

Out In The Crowd

The music room was full to capacity. All around, sofas and armchairs encircled tables but the ones making the most noise were the five where the hosts sat. Tamaki was entertaining five ladies at once, all of them in a permanent state of happy fainting – so much so that they didn't notice that every so often he glanced over to Haruhi's table, where the 'natural' host made easy conversation with two first year girls. Honey was glowing; he'd been presented with three different kinds of cake and was desperately trying to decide which kind to eat first. Mori watched him closely, giving short but apparently swoon-worthy answers to their customers. I licked my finger and turned over the next page of my book, sitting one of the spare tables behind the open door, my feet on a chair. The books were getting much easier to read and though in most of them, the content was quite archaic, the storylines weren't that bad. I turned another page.

"Did Kyoya send you over to test me again?" I said without looking up. There was a sigh and the twins leant on my table.

"You _are_ kind of good at that," Hikaru said grudgingly.

"Which book are you on?" Kaoru asked, peering over my shoulder. To my eternal shame, I was still on the first book. In English, I could have got them done in two or three days. In Japanese and with all the extra work I had to do, they were taking me forever. I had so much to deal with that I hadn't really had much time to curl up with a book and relax – not that these books could be considered relaxing. Life in the apartment block didn't seem to be getting any better. I'd literally had to jump and run this morning, using the element of surprise as my getaway plan. Yuri and I were shattered. We still don't know how I'd managed to get past them all beaten up after my 'interview'. Yuri was off the opinion that Jai was watching me and laughing his ass off. I wouldn't have put it passed him and the very idea gave me chills. I didn't like to think of him watching me at my weakest.

I was suddenly very aware of Kaoru's face next to mine and felt heat rising in my cheeks.

"Don't you guys have a job to do?" I asked mildly.

"Hai, hai, we're going," they said, exasperated. I watched them stroll back to their table out of the corner of my eye and breathed out. Goddamn it.

Though I knew I shouldn't be, hidden behind the door as I was, I felt really self-conscious. Sure, the new uniform was growing in popularity among the more active members of the student body, and I could count at least six other in the room wearing it, but I was sure Kyoya's '_you're-a-girl-you'll-blend-in_' method wasn't going to work. I tried to refocus on the story, searching the page for the place I previously was.

"You have a job, too, Katya." I sighed and looked up at Kyoya.

"I'm sorry, boss," I said sweetly. "Did a huge fight happen while I was only half-looking?" His stare did nothing to me. I'd seen better – worse? Scarier – stares before. I still didn't think I could trust him though. In my defence, the music room was a bundle of happiness today. The only drama that was happening was the twin's usual brotherly love piece and the fact that Kyoya had disappeared from his table. I looked pointedly at his guests, which he ignored and pushed up his glasses.

"Seriously, Kyoya. I can do multiple things at once. Besides." I held up my hands. "I read all your emails, learnt all the names, memorised the pictures of banned members and remember all the things on the 'do-not-do' list you sent me." I counted them off on my fingers. I knew I was winding him up.

"As long as you are taking this seriously," he said pleasantly, pulling a piece of paper out of his folder and handing it to me.

"I've been doing this for a week now. I'm serious as death." I looked down at the paper. "What's this?"

"I drew up a list of customers it would be wise to have you avoid escorting out, should the need arise." I looked up at him sharply and then back down at the list. It wasn't very long and a couple of them I hadn't heard of, but I was willing to bet the shadow king's judgement on politics was better than mine. More importantly, Tsubame and Akemi took up two spaces – known associates, six more.

"Thanks," I muttered, pocketing the list. He gave me a look.

"Of course, I have no idea what you mean." I grinned to myself and went back to my book. I was sure he was holding that information until it suited him to release it but honestly, he was helping me out greatly.

For the amount I was earning each time the Host Club opened for business, this job was a breeze. Nothing had happened for me to get involved with – it was almost boring. I scanned the crowded room, eyeing every face. There were literally no problems here at all – they ran this club like it was their life and it showed. It was almost bizarre. These girls seemed to be so well behaved and perfect and beautiful. How come the only one I ever ran into was Queen Bitch Fukui?

With a sigh, I went back to my book. At least all this peace and quiet meant my face was staying in one piece.

* * *

><p>"What do you think, Katya?" I tucked my hair behind my hair, looking at the problem in front of me.<p>

"Don't know," I said vaguely, not really listening. Hikaru leant back, his chair balanced precariously on two legs.

"You are no fun," he accused me. I levelled my best IDGAF gaze at him and went back to my maths homework. His chair rocked forwards and he put his elbows on the table, looking at me oddly. I ignored him for a few minutes before putting my pencil down in defeat.

"Yes, Hikaru?" I asked with mock-patience.

"Why did you come if all you're gonna do is work?" I looked across the garden. It sprawled out under the house, a maze of flowered bushes and trees surrounding the main lawn. A ball spiralled through the air into Honey's reaching hands, the small boy riding on Mori's shoulders. The other hosts spread out in their respective teams of three. Tamaki tried to block the pass but Kaoru dodged around him and snatched the ball out of the air. Why had I come? Because they'd asked and I found I couldn't say no.

"I'm a busy girl," I replied, going back to my work. He took my pencil with the same skill his brother had. I grabbed for it.

"Hey!" He held it away. I huffed, and crossed my arms.

"Come on, you're always working! Even Haruhi doesn't work this hard and she's… well, Haruhi. Don't you have any free time?" No, not really.

"I'm busy," I repeated, picturing the dark of my room and the uncomfortable cramped floor that was serving as my desk.

"What do you even _do_ in the evenings?" Hide, I thought, but that wasn't an appropriate answer.

"Why did you agree to play if all you're going to do is ask me questions?" I shot back at him. He tilted his head, eyeing me.

"Hikaru!" Haruhi's desperate shout caught our attention. She waved to him. She and Tamaki were getting absolutely destroyed. I grabbed my pencil back. He opened his mouth to protest.

"Go and play, Hikaru." He looked across at Kyoya before slinking away to the game. It didn't take very long for him to throw himself in. Having one Hitachiin on either side seemed to make the teams quite evenly matched. At least, I thought so, but I wasn't even sure what they were playing. I glanced across at the dark host, who seemed to have been reabsorbed into his laptop. I was half expecting him to admonish me but I wasn't sure what for. With a shrug, I tried to concentrate on my work.

The trouble is that there was a group of incredibly attractive young men playing sports in the afternoon sun and it was incredibly distracting.

I threw down my pencil in disgust, my traitorous brain refusing to even do simple double integration. Instead, my eyes wandered to the lithe hosts as they threw the ball back and forth. It was at times like this that Haruhi's difference shone through, I thought, as she stood on the side-lines waiting for her moment. It was obvious this wasn't really her thing but she seemed to be enjoying herself. She moved suddenly, catching the slow ball Tamaki had tossed her. In a blink, Kaoru picked her up and ran towards the goal. Tamaki set after him, yelling in his exaggerated way. He set her down over the makeshift line and she swatted him. He laughed.

I put my head in my hands.

"Struggling?" I looked up at Kyoya. He stood by my table with a small smile.

"No," I said and then, more convincingly, "I'm fine." He raised an eyebrow and sat down, reopening his laptop. I had a sneaky feeling he wasn't referring to my maths problems.

"No, please, have a seat…" I muttered to myself, going back to staring at my work and waiting for my brain to function. The game was slowly falling into chaos to my right. Haruhi was the first to collapse on the side-lines, exhausted, followed one by one by the others. They chatted and laughed among themselves. I heaved a much bigger sigh than I meant to.

"You know, Katya, perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea to have fun every now and then." I pulled myself out of self-pity for the sake of the irony.

"_You_ are telling me to have fun?" I said, sceptical. It seemed the irony wasn't lost on him either.

"Indeed." He looked over his glasses at me. "You need to have some moments where you're not thinking about the darker sides of your life." I leant back in my chair. I still wasn't entirely sure how much he knew but I almost didn't want to know.

"And do you, Mr Ootori, ever not think about the darker side of your life?" I asked. He smiled at me in that ambiguous, infuriating way he had and I resisted throwing my pencil at him. I supposed he had a point, though. Even though I now had this to distract me, Jai and Tsubame were definitely overshadowing any thoughts of having fun I would have had. I was obsessing over them but really, what else was I to do?

"Hey, Kyoya." We looked up at Kaoru, who stretched his arms above his head. "We're going to play that hide-and-seek game Haruhi taught us last semester. You coming?" Kyoya looked at me.

"Katya will join you," he said.

"Cool. Come on, Katya!" Kaoru grinned, walking towards the group.

"Oh, I will, now, will I?" I muttered to Kyoya. My chair tipped over and I shot to my feet, looking down. His foot disappeared from view.

"Childish," I hissed at him as I walked past.

"And yet effective," he murmured. "Have fun." I gave him one last death glare and caught up with the twin at the door.

"I'll give you a tour at the same time," Kaoru said as I caught up with him. My stomach flipped as he grinned at me. I sighed, following him.

I was in so much trouble.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: So this may seem to be moving along slowly. For which I apologise. I'm trying to set the scene I want and it's taking me some time to get it feeling right. As for the regularity of updates, this will possibly slow down as soon as university starts back up again.<em>


	10. Of Mice And Really Bad Men

Chapter Ten

Of Mice and Really Bad Men

"Why," I muttered, "Are we playing this game?" We stood by the bushes in a semi-circle of tension. Haruhi made a face.

"I taught it to them a while ago. They loved it. I guess they never really played a lot of kids' games when they were little or something." She shrugged. She had an excellent point. I couldn't imagine many of them had very kid-like childhoods, considering. I almost felt sorry for them. Almost, I thought grimly.

"We play with a base," she said, "To make it more interesting for them." I glanced to where she was pointing. The twins were getting ready to count, leaning on each other, eyes closed. The stone birdbath they were sitting on was empty and unused. "That's the base. If you can get to it, you're safe." I nodded. I'd played something very similar in England. Hopefully the rules were the same. Although, I'm not entirely sure what additional rules you could add in.

Except, perhaps, don't let Honey karate-kick you away from base or something.

"Okay!" Tamaki jumped onto a bench, arms wide. "We play the Hide and Go Seek game once more! Rules – stay within the garden area of the Hitachiin grounds! Finders have to tag the hider for it to count! Hiders that reach the base are safe!"

"He's dramatic about this stuff, huh? How seriously do they take this?" I whispered. Haruhi giggled.

"Ladies and gentleman…" There was a glint in his eye.

"Really seriously," she told me quietly. That was probably not a good thing.

"BEGIN!" I swore quietly as the others raced off into the maze of bushes and hightailed it out of there. After a few moments, I skidded to a stop at the side of a koi pond. I had a distinct disadvantage of not being familiar with the terrain. I looked around, trying to get my bearings. I had absolutely no idea how far the 'garden area' went on for. I jogged for a bit, discovering the garden grew more and more untamed. I figured, with grounds this size, the gardeners hadn't got to this bit yet. I grinned. The messier, the better. The twins in their designer clothes might not want to hang around down here, whereas I was pretty sure my top used to be red, not slightly purple. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I did this too often in real life to be playing this damn game but it seemed I had a slight problem with turning these guys down.

I heard the twins shout, meaning they had begun to look. Without really thinking, I dropped to the ground and rolled under a hedge, falling completely still. I had two hunters and two escape routes. My best bet was if they split up and only one of them found me. Turning my head left to watch the path I'd come discreetly, I focussed on my breathing and getting my heart rate down. Being nervous in these situations was human evolution but everyone was always so much better when they weren't.

It was kind of depressing that I was really good at hiding.

I heard a shout from somewhere and a lot of movement. The chase is afoot, I thought with a small smile. I tried to figure out who it was when I heard Honey's voice calling 'Safe!'. I was surprised he'd been the first to run. He was so small that he could probably hide anywhere. That did not bode well for me.

There was a shriek to my right and I couldn't help but brace myself to bolt. I peered in that direction; Haruhi had obviously been found. From the amount of noise, I figured maybe Tamaki had been in the near vicinity too. I snorted. Of course he would be. Teaching them hide-and-seek, huh? Maybe Haruhi was more cunning than I'd originally thought.

A footstep stilled me. I turned my head ever so slightly to the left and saw the bottom of a shoe. I stared at it, wondering how it had gotten so close. They'd obviously used the chaos of the other find to creep up here without anyone hearing them. They didn't move. Neither did I.

Maybe they hadn't seen me. Maybe they were looking around, without any clue I was down here. Maybe they'd walk away in a second and my heart would stop trying to beat a tattoo on the inside of my ribcage.

The legs started to bend.

I bailed.

I rolled to my right and sprang to my feet, shooting off into the trees. My pursuer gave a shout and even though I knew it was a game, a panic alarm went off in the base of my skull, spurring me forwards. Slightly disorientated as I was, I didn't initially run back towards the base. I vaulted over a small stream, stumbling on the bank, and dodged into a group of something resembling fir trees. I tried to estimate how far behind the footsteps were but just dodging the garden furniture became a challenge. Who needed five damn benches in one garden? I used one to jump onto a rock and drop down the other side, running along the stream bank. I could see the house to my right and started to veer in the direction I knew a bridge was in.

Suddenly, a wall loomed in front of me out of the foliage. I skidded, trying to turn or stop, when a hand caught my wrist to spin me round. We both slammed into the wall, only his hands on the brick stopping him from smashing into me. There was momentary pause.

"Ow," I moaned. My back did not like walls as a rule.

"Damn, you can run," Kaoru panted. I laughed breathlessly.

"I've had… a lot of practice." We looked at each other and I knew, I just knew I was going to go red again. There was something about those amber eyes I just couldn't get over, even if there were two pairs of them in the world. There was nowhere for me to look away either, not without looking at some part of him. It wasn't like I didn't want to. Wait. I didn't mean I… I was very confused. I settled for staring at his arm, trying to think of something to say. Neither of us moved.

"I… I think you caught me," I said quietly, feeling the soreness of my shoulder where I'd hit the brickwork.

"I hoped so." His fingers brushed away some hairs from my face and I glanced back at him, my eyes widened. He suddenly went pink and looked away. It was kind of adorable. I wanted to punch myself.

"Hey, Katya…" He started, rubbing the back of his neck. He was very, very close to me. I could feel the heat emanating from his body and the surprisingly soft material of his shirt. My brain immediately jumped how he might feel underneath and I mentally kicked myself, wishing I could escort my own mind off the premises.

"Oi, Kaoru!" We jumped and, to my relief and my mind's screaming disappointment, he turned away as Hikaru jogged towards us. He was beaming.

"We got everyone except Mori and Honey-senpai. That's a new record." The twins high-fived. Kaoru shot me look as Hikaru pulled him back towards the house, seemingly oblivious. I waited until they were out of sight and dropped into a crouch, rubbing my hands over my eyes.

"Bad Katya," I muttered.

* * *

><p>I slid through the window and landed in a heap on my floor. I couldn't be bothered to move. My door opened a few seconds later and I heard Yuri breathe a sigh of relief.<p>

"So… how was your Saturday?" I groaned, rolling into a sitting position.

"I'm not even sure. You won't believe-_holy crap, Yuri_!" I leapt to my feet as he turned away. I grabbed him and forced him to face me in a very déja vu moment. Half his face was bruised horribly, impressions of a fist clearly visible in the blooming red and purple mess. He sat down heavily on the sofa, shaking his head.

"You know, it looks so easy when you do it," he joked.

"Okay, not funny. What the hell happened to you?" I asked, sitting next to him. He eyed me.

"Jai got real tired of being told you weren't here and decided to search the place himself." My eyes widened and I couldn't breathe. I didn't think he would dare.

"Where's Suzu?" I looked around wildly, hoping to see her grinning little face. Yuri waved my worries away.

"She's up with Mum for the next few nights. She was at a friend's house when they came to look for you," he explained. I sank back and stared at him. If it hurt anywhere near as bad as it looked, it had to hurt a lot. They seemed to have focussed mainly on his face, probably out of spite.

"Why didn't you just let them?" I whispered.

"I guess I'm learning too much from you," he chuckled. I thumped him in the arm and he winced. I swore and immediately apologised, getting up to get some ice. I wrapped it in a towel and handed it to him. He smiled weakly and pressed it to his face. I stared at the table.

"Who was it?" I asked. He looked at me.

"Katya-"

"Just answer the damn question." He relented.

"Your tattooed friend. And a big foreign guy, blond. And another guy I didn't know," Yuri recounted with a frown. I nodded. So not Jai himself. That would explain the lack of blood and knife marks. That was a good thing.

"I was out…" I stood up, angry. "I was out playing games while you… you… this!" I punched the wall, leaving a crack in the plaster. Yuri looked up wearily.

"Katya, stop breaking my apartment. It's had enough of that today." I counted to ten and sat back down, putting my head in my hands.

"Yuri, I am so sorry…"

"Don't say sorry. Don't you dare." I looked up at him, surprised. His eyes blazed. "It's about damn time we started standing up to those guys anyway. You just pushed us in the right direction."

"I'm not pushing you anywhere!" I protested. "And this is not standing up, Yuri, this is getting knocked down. And if you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly doing that much better than you." He shrugged.

"You can run faster."

"Shut it, smart ass," I said with a chuckle. I stood up, stretching. Yuri obviously didn't want my pity and he was making it plenty clear that this discussion was over. I wanted to scream; I wanted to kill someone, preferably the assholes that'd done this. I wanted to beat their faces in, to hit them 'til they begged. I wanted to skin them alive and throw them in boiling salt water. I struggled to calm down, walking over the sink to wash my face with cold water. It sort of helped.

"So. Are you going to explain why you have soil all over you?" Yuri asked casually. I glanced down at myself in surprise. I'd been in such a rush to get away from the mansion and the growing tension that I'd completely forgotten. My phone had gone off twice on the way home. I knew it was Kaoru but I didn't have the guts to check it.

"Uh…"

"Been rolling around with someone?" Kaoru flashed across my mind and I started towards my bedroom, inexplicably embarrased. Yuri raised his eyebrows and then stopped as it hurt.

"Wait, I'm right? You actually were?"

"Shut up, Yuri," I muttered, taking off my jacket.

"Oh wow." He started to laugh. "That's hilarious!" He quickly tried to stop, gripping his side where he'd been hit particularly hard. I knew how that felt and I hated that he was going through it. I hated that he thought it was perfectly okay to put himself through it.

"Boys are so fucking frustrating!" I shut the door firmly and sank to the floor.

Oh god.

_Oh god._


	11. Head In The Clouds

Chapter Eleven

Head In The Clouds

I woke up with a start, Yuri banging on my door. I sat up groggily as he barged in, ripping the quilt off me.

"Rise and shine!" I glared at him groggily.

"Hey, ugly, a little privacy?" I groaned, pulling the duvet back and curling up. My freshly washed clothes hit me in the face. I pushed them aside, trying to wake up. I'd stayed in bed most of Sunday, ignoring my constantly buzzing phone and the niggling that perhaps I should finish my homework. It was still really dark outside and so not time for Yuri to pull the whole 'Stop feeling sorry for yourself' crap. My brain still foggy, I pushed my rat's-nest bedhead out of my eyes and yawned.

"What's the rush, Quasimodo?" Yuri looked at me, totally not getting my joke. I didn't actually know if Quasimodo was a thing in Japan. I made a sleepy mental note to check on that.

"It's Monday, silly. Time to get up." I looked at the black sky doubtfully.

"It's, like, midnight," I protested. He glanced at the window and grinned.

"It's almost half six. Those would be what you call thunderclouds," he said, throwing some socks at me. I inched closer to the window. He was right – what I had initially mistaken for darkness was a roiling, churning mass of angry purples and deep greys, sitting heavily above the city and threatening to dump its immense load over us. It looked ready to burst already.

"So what's bit you, Your Cheerfulness?" I said grumpily, sliding out of bed into the cold air. I sat cross-legged on the floor and pulled my uniform towards me. I did not like mornings. I never had done. Yuri shrugged.

"Nothing." I was immediately interesting by his denial. I surveyed him with narrowed eyes.

"It's Sayuri, isn't it? She finally agreed to a date?" I guessed, correctly. I saw the redness even underneath his swollen face. He threw my schoolbag at me to stop me making another comment. Chuckling to myself, I obeyed my embarrassed friend and began to get dressed. I was already running late. I wondered if Sayuri had seen his face. Considering what I knew about her – quiet, sweet, and worrying – she was probably attracted by his brokenness or something. I grinned, wondering if Yuri realised what a great opportunity Jai had accidentally given him. There was nothing quite like someone looking after you to get to know them better.

"So I take it you won't be coming home early tonight, huh?" I called to the other room.

"You are not allowed an opinion on this matter, Miss Five-In-The-Morning!" I snorted, fishing out my jacket from the end of my bed. He had a point. Neither of us stated the obvious – be careful. It had got to the slightly depressing point where we didn't need to tell each other.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry I'm late," I said as I slipped into the music room. Kyoya looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. I looked around, shrugging off my soaked jacket.<p>

"Oooooooooor not. Where is everyone?" I asked, hanging it on the back of my usual chair by the door and shaking out my hair. It hung in wet strands around my face, dripping rainwater onto the floor. I twisted it to get rid of any excess and rolled my eyes at the torrent that hit the floor. My hair could retain water like a sponge crossed with a TARDIS.

"I imagine Tamaki is collecting Haruhi. The others may be stuck in traffic," he said, not taking his eyes off his screen.

"Cool," I said, wandering over to the windows to watch the storm above and forcing my fingers through my matted hair. Lightning flashed along the sky, lighting up the entire school like something out of a horror movie. I counted silently, waiting for the thunder to roll in. It was getting closer.

"It should not surprise me that you like storms," Kyoya commented. I glanced back at him, surprised he'd actually noticed anything outside of his laptop.

"How'd you figure that one?" I asked, moving back towards the table.

"You still walked here, with that hanging overhead. And you're in a surprisingly good mood considering you've been ignoring everyone since Saturday afternoon." I winced.

"I've not been ignoring anyone…"

"Kaoru is under the impression he did something wrong, I believe." He paused his typing. "Do you have an explanation for that?" I sank down into a chair with a sigh. I didn't really have an explanation. If Kaoru hadn't shared it, then I sure as hell wasn't going to. Maybe he was embarrassed. Hell, maybe he was ashamed. I wrung out my blazer as Kyoya laced his fingers.

"Katya, I did not hire you to make my life difficult." I stared at him.

"_I'm _making _your_ life difficult?!" I said in disbelief. He narrowed his eyes but at that moment the door swung open. Tamaki had his arm around Haruhi in a surprisingly obvious display of affection between them. It took me a moment to notice the enormous headphones she had on and her eyes squeezed tightly shut. He manoeuvred her into a chair and looked at Kyoya.

"The others are not here yet?"

"Mori and Honey-senpai are almost here. The twins shall apparently be a little longer." Tamaki nodded as I sidled closer to Haruhi. She seemed completely closed off in her own world. Frowning at her for a minute, I fished a notebook out of my bag and scribbled on the first page. Pushing it across the table, I tapped her on the hand. She opened her eyes a little and stared at the note. Shivering she took up the pen.

_I don't like thunder_. Oh. I looked at her and then back at the note. She was afraid of storms and really badly from how far she was retreating into her blazer – correction, Tamaki's blazer. Her blazer was draped neatly over the back of her chair. I gave her hand a quick squeeze, getting a half smile. I wondered if she was listening to anything or they were literally just to block noise. She seemed distinctly terrified.

"I have already thought of this," I heard Kyoya say. "If this storm doesn't let up, I shall cancel Haruhi's customers for today. It would probably be best if she went home sick."

"She can't go home alone!" Tamaki protested.

"Would you have us run the Host Club without you?" The answer was obviously a torn 'no', as the blond King looked towards his girlfriend in concern. At this point, the door opened again.

"Look who we found!" Honey beamed from Mori's shoulders. The twins rolled their eyes, taking their seats after each tapping Haruhi on the shoulder. This was obviously a familiar occurrence. I wondered how she managed school with such an overpowering fear on days like this.

"Sorry we're late, m'lord," Hikaru said. "_Someone_ wouldn't get out of bed this morning." He poked his brother, who stuck his tongue at him. Kaoru caught my eye and there was half a second of tension. Then I smiled and he visibly relaxed. I let out the breath I hadn't realised I was holding, relieved. It seemed like nothing was wrong at all. Except, of course, Haruhi, for whom everything was wrong.

I read through the meeting to which I could contribute nothing, sliding one of my other books under Haruhi's nose. She took it, seemingly grateful to take her mind off things. We sat in what seemed like companionable silence as the boys debated the pros and cons of the decided-on themes for the next week. I had no doubt that this was all just for show and that Tamaki and Kyoya had final say over what got done. Eventually, they decided to go with some historical theme that Tamaki had suggested with his usual elaborate enthusiasm.

"So that brings us to tomorrow evening's usual meeting," Kyoya said, glancing down at his schedule. "I believe it is our lord's turn to host."

"What about you, Kyoya?" Hikaru said with an evil smile.

"Yeah, shouldn't it be your turn?" Kaoru added, leaning over his brother. The shadow king didn't deign to look at them.

"Tamaki?" The blond leader paused thinking for a moment.

"I think my grandmother is having some visitors," he said slowly.

"Then I take it you would rather we didn't?" Kyoya said, marking it on his file. "Honey-senpai?"

"We're hosting the entrants for the city judo championships!" He said with excitement, around a mouthful of the cake I hadn't seen appear.

"There are many," Mori added.

"Loads of them!" Honey waved his arms in the air.

"I guess it's us again," Hikaru sighed. Kaoru cocked his head as Honey said something to him.

"Yeah, what about Katya's?"

"_No!_" There was a moment of silence. I sat back down slowly as the boys looked between me and Kyoya, eyes wide and sudden suspicion evident. He coughed, regaining his composure.

"By which I mean, the Hayashi household will be busy tomorrow evening," he backtracked. I stared down at my book, hoping the burning of my ears wasn't visible to anyone else at the table. I hadn't thought about this and my reaction had been less than satisfactory. Then again, even Mr Conniving Ootori had slipped up on that one. I guess we really hadn't expected anyone to ask. I hadn't even considered it; I hadn't realised I was already one of the group.

But I couldn't be. I couldn't be one of them, couldn't pretend I lived in that big house on the hill with a loving family and money that knew no bounds. I didn't understand how this was happening. I was sure, I was so sure, that I was just that little bit too off for these guys. And yet…

"Uh… okay," Hikaru said slowly. "I guess we can put up with you losers again."

"Who are you calling losers?!" Tamaki demanded and just like that, the tension evaporated. I sighed, closing my book. I really needed to get on top of all of these damn secrets or I was going to trip over one of them. I packed up as the twins started to wind Tamaki into a steaming rage, glancing out the window. Though rain hammered at the glass, the clouds had lightened to a more usual and much quieter grey. I lifted one of Haruhi's headphones.

"Hey. The storm's over," I said with a grin. She looked at me, then at the window and her entire body seemed to slump in her chair, her face a picture of abstract relief. I decided not to make a smart comment and accepted the book back. She gestured to the others.

"Anything interesting happen?" I glanced at Kyoya, who was resolutely staring at his screen again.

"Nope," I lied. "Not a thing." She shrugged, putting on her blazer and going to save Tamaki from exploding at his tormenters – apparently, by throwing his blazer at his face. I smirked and turned towards the door.

"Hey, Katya, wait up a second." My brain squealed to a halt and I looked up at Kaoru with a not-very-convincing smile.

"What's up?" The twins fell into step with me, Hikaru's arm lying casually across his brother's shoulder.

"Did you get the invitation we sent you?" Kaoru asked.

"Yeah, he was all upset that you haven't RSVP'd yet," Hikaru mocked, poking him. Kaoru shrugged him off with a half-embarrassed grin. I looked between them.

"Invitation?" They exchanged a look.

"Weird. We sent them out last week," Hikaru mused.

"What is it for, exactly?"

"For the party, of course!" They exclaimed. I looked blank and they sighed. I obviously hadn't been paying much attention.

"Our parents are having a big party next weekend," Kaoru said.

"We didn't fancy hanging out with a load of boring fashion designers and brand owners all evening so we invited a few more interesting people," Hikaru added, making a face. I thought hard.

"No, I don't remember getting…" I trailed off as I realised that I wouldn't have got it at all because they wouldn't have sent it to the apartment – they'd have sent it to the Hayashi mansion, the place where I never was and was rarely in contact with. Anger bubbling within me, I forced a smile.

"I'll reply as soon as I get it," I assured them.

"Wait, is that a yes or no?" Kaoru asked. I just winked at them and walked away, the grin sliding off my face.

I had some family to go and see.


	12. Dishonour On You, Dishonour On Your Cow

Chapter Twelve

Dishonour On You, Dishonour On Your Cow

I stood in front of the tasteless gate in the rain, my long hair sticking to my jacket and water soaking into my old trainers. The rain hadn't let up all the way here and from the sounds it was making, Yuri's bike was not all that impressed. I jammed my finger onto the bell. It took a couple of minutes before the housekeeper's voice echoed through the speaker.

"Hayashi residence. Who is calling?" I wondered if all the staff on the street read off a damn script.

"Hayashi Katya," I said shortly. There was a pregnant pause.

"Do you have an appointment?" The woman's voice was noticeably colder. I'd met this woman when I was here before – head housekeeper, Mrs Oshiro: a short, broad woman with tousled grey hair shoved on top of her head and the fashion sense of a 1960's dead woman. She was lousy with loyalty, grovelling all over my rich relatives like they were gods walking among us, drooling over every move they made, hanging onto every word. To Mrs Oshiro, what they said was law, and the law at the moment seemed to be not allowing me entry. I glared at the speaker, rain starting to drip off the front of my hood, and resisted punching it into pieces.

"Open the gates, Mrs Oshiro."

"I'm afraid that without an appointment…"

"Open the damn gates or I swear to god I will make a fucking scene and climb them." The silence stretched on until I dropped the bike and looked up, gauging how long it would take me. There was a sharp buzz and they began to creak open, obviously not used often.

"Good choice," I growled, not waiting to hear whatever she had to say back at me, which was probably derogatory anyway. I swung back onto my bike and set off towards the distant house.

The mansion ran off the same kind of model as the rest of the houses in the neighbourhood – big, impressive, ostentatious, not built to live in but to show off. The Hayashi family had gone with a shining marble exterior that gleamed in the rain, making it look to me more like a monument or a mausoleum than a house, with a multitude of unfortunately small windows. The lawn up to the main door was void of any plant life but the neatly cut grass. Obviously my family didn't go in for flowers or trees or any kind of reminder that things other than themselves were alive. I was half-convinced the lawn was AstroTurf. Maybe the staff were actually robots, too. That would explain an awful lot. The drive began to curve in the obligatory circle in front of the house and I skidded the bike to a stop as skilfully as I could in the pouring rain.

The door was already open when I climbed the steps. Mrs Oshiro stood resolutely in the doorway, like a really small bouncer. Her eyes were polished ice.

"You should not be here without an appointment." I made a face of mock surprise.

"Mrs Oshiro, I obviously only came to see your lovely, friendly face! Oh, no, wait." I slapped myself on the forehead. "No, I didn't."

"You are not welcome here." If she'd had the balls to spit in my face, she would have. I waved aside her concerns, adopting an casual air. It seemed to infuriate her more. She really hated me. She'd told me so. Well, she hadn't exactly told me. She just hadn't been very subtle when she'd told the other staff to collect 'the embarrassment's bags' when I was being shown in. I was a dark canker upon the saintly Hayashi family tree, a rot that needed to be removed.

"I suggest that you leave," she said primly, not appreciating my attempts at light-heartedness.

"Well, if you're going to be like that." My gaze became dark. "I suggest that you move." She seemed surprised at my demand and crossed her arms. I raised my eyebrows, imitating her.

"Really? This is how we're going to play it?" I sighed. "You realise I'm about a hundred years younger than you. Your hip will give out before I will." That obviously touched a nerve and her subsequent frown increased the immense amount of wrinkles on her face. I was probably being mean but hot damn, this woman asked for it.

"You are not permitted to step foot on these grounds," she said, her voice dripping with distaste. I laughed.

"You know, that's weird, because I swear I saw my surname on that gate back there…" Her lips curled and I held my hands up. "Look, Your Iciness, I didn't come here to exchanged insults, as fun as this has undoubtedly been. I didn't even come here to come in, so you can stop being the guard troll."

"Then why are you here?" That was almost a snarl, almost a break in her prudish exterior. I debating pushing her and seeing if she'd fly into a hair-pulling, face-scratching, screaming frenzy but decided against it.

"I'm here to collect something of mine," I said simply, with a shrug.

"We have _nothing_ of yours." Okay, that was definitely a snarl.

"Maybe you missed it." I held my hands an envelope's length apart. "It'll be about this big, had my name on the front, delivered by this guy called a postman or something."

"We have had no mail for you," Mrs Oshiro sniffed. I put my hand on my heart.

"You know, it kind of offends me after how honest you are about what you think of me, you would lie to my face like that."

"No one would write to the likes of _you_." I smiled grimly. She was really starting to piss me off.

"You know, Mrs Oshiro," I murmured, taking one step closer. "Maybe, if you really thought about, you'd realise you shouldn't really insult _the likes of me_." Her lips parted slightly as she worked that one out and a mixture of fear and revulsion crossed her face. I glared at her, not moving, knowing I'd just initiated a stand-off. Her eyes were steel but I was angry. Really angry.

"That will do." Mrs Oshiro whipped around to sink into a bow deeper than her old spine should feasibly let her.

"Mistress Chiyoko! I didn't want to disturb you with such meaningless matters." The housekeeper shot me a dirty look and I crossed my arms in defiance. Bloody stuck-up piece of…

"Thank you, Mrs Oshiro. I will handle it from here."

"But Mistress!" The old woman protested.

"Go, please. I believe my sister would like some more tea." Mrs Oshiro bowed again.

"Of course." I got another evil look before she hurried away into the depths of the dark house to do what she did best – serve the Hayashi family. I would have pretended to gag at the ecstasy her job gave her but it wasn't really the time or place.

Aunt Chiyoko was only an inch taller than I was and our skin had a very similar hue, but that was where the family resemblance ended. Whereas I tended to curve in a multitude of places, including places I'd rather I didn't, Chiyoko was stick-like and reminded me strongly of a praying mantis. Even her nose was skinny and long, and her mouth thin. I wondered how many generations of breeding stick insects had brought her about and where the hell the skinny gene had gone when I was born. Her sleek thick black hair, as opposed to my thin unruly brunette, was forever scraped back into a single braid that was pinned to her head in some kind of curling arrangement that defied gravity. Her wardrobe seemed to consist of colours ranging from dark to darker and her jewellery seemed to consist of a lot. She sparkled as she stalked up the reception hall towards me.

"I did not send for you." I leant on the doorframe.

"No, you didn't," I agreed.

"If I did not send for you," she said coolly. "Then you should not be here."

"I'm here for my letter," I said, knowing full well she had probably heard the entire conversation between Mrs TightAss Oshiro and myself. She tilted her head – giveaway number one. Aunt Chiyoko was usually a statue.

"What letter?" She asked – giveaway number two. Aunt Chiyoko didn't ask, she told. "We have received no letter-" Giveaway number three. Aunt Chiyoko did not expand on anything while talking those she deemed unworthy of her time.

And I was Unworthy Numero Uno.

"Cut the bullshit, Aunt Chiyoko. I _know_ a letter came here that you didn't send on," I snapped. Her eyes widened ever so slightly. Up until this point, I had been willing to do whatever the hell they said; as long as they left me alone to get on with my life, I would attempt not to embarrass them. It had been working out fine. This? This was interfering with my life.

She paused for a second, weighing up her options. Eventually, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small envelope. My name was clearly written in blue on the front. I bet she went and got it as soon as Mrs Oshiro had run to her with the horrifying news of my arrival. I held out my hand. She did not give it to me.

"Is this what you came here for?" She asked pleasantly. Pleasantly did not mean good things.

"Well, does it have my _name_ on the front? Oh, yes, so it does. That'll be it, then, wouldn't it?" I took a step forward to take it. She inspected it and then put it back in her pocket.

"It is of no interest to you." I stopped.

"Oh my god," I said slowly. "You fucking opened it." She neither confirmed nor denied, which meant she totally had. "You realise that tampering with someone else's mail is a crime in, like, a lot of countries." I had no idea if it was a crime in Japan but I hoped it was. I hoped it was bad enough to get her thrown in jail.

"I have saved you the effort. As I said, it is of no interest to you," she repeated.

"Actually, it _is_ of interest to me." She laughed and the sound was high and cold and pitying.

"Oh, please, Katya. One of these probably got sent to everyone in school. Is that how you found out? Was everyone at school talking about it?"

"It wasn't sent to everyone, Aunt Chiyoko. It was sent to me!" She gave a sympathetic sigh and looked down her pointed nose at me.

"I am doing you a favour. You would not last two minutes at that party. I mean, _look_ at yourself." She gestured to my outfit. My hair was hanging in dripping tendrils around my face and my not-quite-waterproof jacket was causing my t-shirt to stick to my skin. There were fraying scuffs on my jeans where I'd worn them thin and holes in the cuffs of my jacket where I'd worked my thumb through. My shoes, oozing brown water as they were, no longer really resembled shoes. I was cold, wet and starting to shiver.

"You're an absolute wreck, a drowned rat." I couldn't really argue with that statement. I stared at the ground.

"There is no chance that you could possibly fit in at an event like this," Chiyoko said, turning away. "Unless one of those boys hired you to laugh at."

"They wouldn't do that!" I spat. She stopped.

"And how would you know that?" She asked, not turning around.

"Because they're my friends." She gave another laugh – I was now deeming it a cackle – and glanced over her shoulder at me.

"Oh, Katya. You really are disillusioned. The Hitachiin children would never become friends with the likes of you. Besides." She gave a sniff. "They are probably embarrassed that they accidentally sent you an invite. Imagine their shame if you actually turned up." I burned.

"Give me the invitation," I said quietly. My aunt turned to me, her eyes narrowed.

"I grow tired of repeating myself. I am not giving you this letter. You would only bring shame upon us all."

"Aunt Chiyoko." She looked at me, obviously expecting an apology. "Shut your gaddamn mouth and give me the fucking invitation." She took a step back.

"_Excuse me?_" I walked towards her.

"I have had enough of you and your stupid high horse. You can do whatever the hell you want in this mansion of yours but you do _not_ interfere with my life." I snatched the letter out of her shocked hand. "Do you understand?"

"I will not allow you to do this!" Her voice wavered. Some staff appearing in the doorway and I could hear Mrs Oshiro's voice joined the family members as they were ordered back to work.

"What are you going to do?" I faced her as the housekeeper and my other aunt Kumiko stepped into the hall.

"What are you doing?" Aunt Kumiko demanded.

"I'm leaving," I retorted, turning away and stuffing the envelope in my inner pocket. Aunt Chiyoko grabbed my sleeve. She was obviously desperate if she'd lowered herself to touching me.

"You will not attend that party. You will regret it," she hissed. I snatched my arm out of her grasp and pushed her away from me. She stumbled and the housekeeper leapt to catch her with more agility that she should have had.

"Trust me," I snarled. "Anything you can think of to do to me, someone else has already done." They gaped at me as I stormed back out into the rain, completely frozen in a beautiful tableau of shock and bewilderment.

Halfway down the drive, I stopped to wipe the sudden increase of rainwater from my eyes.


	13. A Girl In The Castle

Chapter Thirteen

A Girl in The Castle

"Yuri, I have made a huge mistake." He grinned at me over the rack of clothes.

"No, you made my _week_. Oh man." He cracked up for the fourth time in as many hours. "I so wish I could've seen your aunt's face."

"Yeah, yeah, keep laughing, buster, and I'll bruise your other ribs," I muttered, flicking through the clothes as he held his side, chuckling painfully. Yuri had found my rendition of what happened at Hayashi's distinctly hilarious. Apparently it was one of the best things he'd heard in years. I moodily lifted a piece of material in an almost offensive shade of pink and let it drift back down to meet the rest of its outfit. Yuri leant on the rack, grinning.

"I'm serious, though," he said, looking less than serious with his half swollen face and lopsided grin. "You really stuck a spanner in whatever evil plan she's spinning around you."

"She's not spinning an evil plan, you moron," I groaned with a shake of my head.

"Oh sure," he said, rehashing the same debate we'd had over a thousand times. "Because it wasn't like she could have just left you in England, completely oblivious to everything and with absolutely no intention on claiming your birth right or anything." I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up, Yuri." He shrugged and looked back down at the clothing in front of him.

"Okay, fine. Remind me why I'm here again?" I sighed, taking something off the rail to examine it.

"Because you are my expert on all things…" I waved my hand vaguely above my head. "Posh and stuff."

"Why didn't you ask your new friend?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I threw the skirt in my hand at him, going red. The store clerk gave us a dirty look.

"It was an ugly skirt anyway," he muttered to me. I snorted trying to hide my laughter as we walked out the door. Yuri whistled innocently as the girl behind the corner huffed, her pretty face crinkled in disapproval. We were obviously not up to the standards of her usual clientele and I was starting to feel it.

"Seriously, though. Just because I know about all the families and the like does not mean I know how their parties work. You may as will ask a chimp how to fix a computer," he stressed.

"You hit it and it turns back on?" I suggested with a grin.

"Very funny, chimp." We jumped onto the bus just as it started moving. "Do you really think we could afford anything around here anyway?" I sighed and shook my head, paying for my ticket.

"No, I don't." We were skint. Aunt Chiyoko had slashed my allowance so all I could afford was my rent so between the two of us, we were just managing to scrape together enough for a weekly shop. So this party was seeming like less and less of a good idea. I couldn't afford an outfit that was in any way appropriate. Unfortunately, I'd already RSVP'd in my fit of anger, cycling immediately down from the Hayashi house to the Hitachiin gate. I collapsed onto a seat, putting my head in my hands.

"Aunt Chiyoko was right. I'll just embarrass myself," I moaned. Yuri punched me.

"Ow!" I protested.

"Firstly, you're made of nails and that so didn't hurt. Secondly, don't you dare take any notice of what that old cow said. We'll figure something out. We've got what, three days?" He nudged me gently. "Stop worrying. They want you there. Not some rich girl, not the perfect Hayashi heir. You." I grinned at him weakly.

"Yeah. Thanks, Yuri."

"No problem." He reached up to grab onto the bar as the bus turned a corner. "I'm more than just a punching bag, you know." I made a face and he laughed, swiping at me as I ducked. Even though my outburst was sure to cause me super-bad consequences at some point, at the moment it felt amazing to have just _said_ something. I was still riding a high of adrenaline that had got me a lot of funny looks working the host club earlier that day. It had even forced me out of my awkwardness and I'd actually had a whole conversation with Kaoru without turning red until I played it back in my head during last period while discreetly banging my head on the desk.

The bus squealed to a reluctant stop and we jumped off before it could speed away again, ignoring the judgmental looks of the people who stayed on the bus, those who were peering out the window at the poorer district like they were on safari. I headed up our infiltration squad of two as we crept closer to apartment, looking in all directions. We ducked behind a wall on the other side of the parking lot and peered over it at the front door.

"Why isn't there anyone there?" I whispered. The porch was eerily empty, no sign of any lurking thugs or leaning gang members. It hadn't been this quiet in weeks. If anything, it was like it had been getting worse.

"Maybe he's got bored of you?" Yuri said hopefully and I shot him a look. He folded. "Alright, it's doubtful. Thank you, killer of my dreams."

"You're welcome," I murmured, narrowing my eyes as if they would materialise before my squinted gaze. Yuri surveyed the surroundings but neither of us could see anything. We stared at each other.

"I don't like this," Yuri said.

"Me neither."

"Run for it?"

"Hell yes." We leapt the short wall at the same time and raced forwards I vaulted over a fallen motorcycle and Yuri pulled ahead. He slammed into the front door of the apartment block, fumbling for his keys. I danced nervously behind him and watched the car park. There was little movement but for all we knew, they were enjoying seeing us squirm. Finally, the door clicked open and we tumbled inside to safety, the latch clicking locked behind us.

Yuri collapsed forwards, breathing hard. I put my hands on my knees, shaking my head. This was getting ridiculous.

"That was surprisingly easy," Yuri wheezed. I chuckled breathlessly.

"Scarily easily," I agreed. He rolled onto his back to frown at me.

"Where do you think they were?" I stretched my arms above my head, considering.

"Watching, I reckon." He didn't put forward an alternate theory, just pushed to his feet and started up the stairs.

"You know, if you stopped annoying everyone, we could walk home like normal people for once," he joked.

"Hey, that is so not fair! I don't annoy people on purpose!" I poked him in the back.

"Oh, no. So Jai's obsession with you is what exactly? An accident?" It _was_ growing into an obsession, I realised. Jai had pretty much stopped hassling any of the other apartment blocks and was focussing solely on this one. In a way that was good – the residents of other blocks were probably having lobby parties to celebrate his lack of interest. The residents in this one, however, were slowly coming around to the idea of offering me to Jai on a spit. Luckily, the Sato's were a big enough family with enough influence for that not to happen. Yet.

I didn't want to push it.

* * *

><p>"We're home-<em>oof<em>!" Yuri doubled over after taking a Suzu-shaped bullet to the stomach.

"Niisan's home!" She sang happily as Yuri swung her around in a big circle. I ducked around them to put the kettle on with a smile. He was so good to her. He placed her on the sofa behind me, moving to get out the mugs.

"How was your day, Suzu?" I asked. Yuri rolled his eyes at me. He didn't mind picking up my lack of honourifics but he really didn't want Suzu to. She made a face that only a five-year-old could.

"There's a boy in my class who keeps pulling my hair," she said, wrinkling her nose.

"Ah," Yuri said sagely, giving me a pointed look as he poured the hot water. "You know what that means." She stared at him, eyes wide, as he put the kettle down.

"What does it mean?" She asked in a hushed voice. He turned to her, seriously, and bent down to look her in the eye.

"It means you're married now."

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew, niisan!" Suzu cried, thrusting a pillow into his face. He laughed, dodging out of her miniature fury, and turned back to the tea. I socked him in the arm, grinning.

"Kat-chan, Kat-chan!"

"Yes, Suzu?" I said mildly, searching the bottom cupboard for the biscuits I knew I'd stashed there.

"Kat-chan, are you a princess?" I banged my head on the top of the cupboard. Trying not to swear, I turned to look at her.

"Why would you ask that?" Yuri asked his sister, passing me a cup of tea. I took it and rubbed my head. That had hurt more than I expected. Suzu bounced on the sofa excitedly.

"Because of the present, of course!" We both stilled.

"What present?" I asked, suddenly cold. She grinned.

"The one delivered by the soldier man earlier. He said it was… was…" She screwed up her face as she tried to remember. "Real important that Kat-chan got it," she decided to paraphrase. Yuri bent down.

"Suzu, where is the present now?" As calm as he sounded, I knew his heart was going as fast as mine. Suzu pointed to the bedroom.

"In Kat-chan's room," she said.

"He was in the _apartment?_" Suzu folded her arms at Yuri's outburst but I was already throwing open the bedroom door. The long box lay on my bed in the darkness. I approached it cautiously.

"Of course he was in the apartment, silly," Suzu sighed in exasperation. "He had to deliver the present."

"Suzu, you cannot let strangers into the apartment!" Yuri's voice had a hint of panic in it. I looked at the box. It was slightly off-white and I touched its surprisingly soft surface. The ribbon around the middle was lying open across the bed and when I peered closer, there were Japanese glyphs embroidered in one corner. There was a note pinned next to them and I detached it to try and decipher it in the dark. It took a moment for it to sink in and my still heart surged into motion again. I almost sank to the floor in relief.

"He wasn't a stranger, he was a _soldier_!" Suzu threw her tiny hands up in the air at her brother's stupidity. He ran a hand through his hair as I came back into the room holding the box.

"Suzu." She looked at me.

"Yes, Kat-chan?" She said sweetly.

"You opened the present, didn't you?" I grinned at her. She twisted her hands together, trying not to look guilty. Yuri stared at her in horror.

"Oh god. We have to get to a hospital…"

"Calm down, Yuri," I laughed. "It's not from Jai." He looked at me for a second and then he moved to collapse onto the sofa next to Suzu.

"It's not dangerous?" He croaked.

"Not at all," I assured him. He put his arm over his eyes as Suzu slapped his shoulder and put her hands on her hips.

"Silly niisan. Why would the soldier deliver a dangerous present?" She scoffed.

"Yeah, Yuri," I grinned. "Don't be such an idiot." He raised his arm enough to glare at me before sinking back into his thankful stupor.

"So what is it?" He asked dully. Suzu sat down on the sofa and began to bounce in excitement, her eyes shining. I picked up the note again.

"It's on loan to me until next week," I said. "And was hand delivered by the Ootori personal guard." Yuri moved his arm to give me a sceptical look.

"As in Ootori Kyoya kind of Ootori? As in the guy who gave you the interview where you had the… where you got hurt? As in the guy who apparently knows all your secrets and is constantly holding them above your head like some really subtle threat? As in that guy?"

"As in that guy," I confirmed.

"We're sure it's not dangerous?" I kicked his leg, setting the box down on the table. He sighed, sitting up.

"So what is it?" Yuri repeated.

"Open it, open it!" Suzu chanted, knowing full well what it was. I obeyed, pulling out the sleek blue-green material and held it up to me. The dress floated gently outwards from the waist down and fell to just below my knee. It shimmered in the light, with fitted three-quarter sleeves and what might turn out to be a daring neckline. I thought it was stunning and looked up for a second opinion. Yuri opened and closed his mouth for a moment, before clearing his throat and sitting back, considering. Suzu sighed happily.

"I told you she was a princess."


	14. Party Of Two Acts: One

Chapter Fourteen

Party Of Two Acts: One

The music was spilling out of the house and rolling across the surrounding area, mixing with the cleverly placed lights to make the garden look like something out of a fairy tale. There was the bubble of too many people simmering just below the surface, reaching me even inside the car. I sank down in my seat as we pulled slowly up the drive, slightly late. The party had obviously already started. The driver glanced back at me.

"Are you alright, Mistress Hayashi?" He asked pleasantly.

"Yeah. I mean, yes, I'm fine. Thank you." I smiled nervously, pushing my hair out of my face and itching to pull a hair tie out of the tiny little handbag Yuri's mother had loaned me. My feeling of doom grew the closer we got to the house. By the time we reached the front door, I was waiting for the seat to swallow me. The door was opened by a man in a dark waistcoat and a polite smile.

"Welcome to the Hitachiin residence." He offered me a hand that I took with a moment of hesitation. He helped me out of the chair and I was thankful not to wobble on the silver heels – a thoughtful second hand donation from Akane in Apartment 15. They were higher than I was used to. In fact, I hadn't worn heels in a very long time and that was a school play that I had chosen to take part in as part of my rehabilitation to the student body. I actually liked it, although I would have never let on to the other kids on the programme.

"Can I have your name, miss?" I zoned back into reality, realising that probably wasn't the first time the poor guy had asked.

"Oh. Hayashi Katya," I told him. My stomach clenched as he looked down at the tablet in his hand, suddenly afraid I'd got all ridiculous only to be turned away at the last minute. After a second of irrational fear, he smiled up at me.

"Have a good evening, Mistress Hayashi," he said respectfully and swept his hand towards the door. I smiled back and climbed the front steps, hoping to hell the anxious shaking I could feel wasn't actually visible.

Another young man who looked very similar to the first led me through the house towards the slowly growing noise that was unmistakably a party. I emerged into the huge room that was almost a ballroom and the amount of people that there actually were hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn't even notice the man excuse himself and disappear back to the front door. I looked around and immediately self-conscious. Everyone was absolutely beautiful – after all, it was a gathering of fashion people. It was to be expected. I could feel my pulse in my face. I hesitated, unsure of what to do.

"Standing in front of the door is probably not the best idea." I turned on a heel, almost falling. Kyoya caught my arm, straightening me deftly. He was dressed in a dark suit, plain and traditional. It suited him.

"Thanks," I said, regaining my balance. He looked me up and down, smiling smugly.

"It seems I chose well," he said simply. I pushed my hair behind my ear again. I wasn't used to it curling but after Suzu told everyone in the block I was going to 'a ball at the prince's house', I had some help with getting ready. The dress was much more fitted than I usually like and made me feel like I was an idiot on show. The elegant girl I kept seeing in the mirror and in reflections of the windows couldn't possibly be me. I'd literally just proven that by almost falling on my ass in the first five minutes of this thing.

"Yeah. Thanks for sending the car as well," I said, feeling like I was falling more and more into this guy's debt.

"That was actually Tamaki." I stared at him.

"Tamaki _knows_?" I hissed. The shadow king looked at me.

"Of course." He seemed unabashed. "Should I have kept this from him?"

"Oh god," I groaned, feeling like a complete idiot. I took a glass of champagne from the waiter that walked past thankfully. Kyoya looked at me, surprised.

"You do know you're not of legal drinking age?" He told me. I held his gaze as I took a long sip and grinned at him.

"Who's going to know?" He raised his eyebrows but didn't make another comment. It wasn't like I'd spent my entire teenage years smashed out of my face, or anything. I'd left that to the more popular kids of the home. But it wasn't like I'd ever finished a party not a little bit tipsy. This, though, was a completely different kind of party. I finished the drink in record time and a waiter appeared to dispose of the empty glass before I could even blink. Kyoya judged me silently.

"You should probably find our esteemed hosts," he suggested. I looked at him.

"Wait, where are you going?" He eyed me.

"I," he said with a sigh. "Do not go to parties for the fun of it. I am simply here to meet those worth meeting." Translarion: he was there to meet people with power and this was just making more connections to him. Of course that was it. This guy didn't party. I couldn't actually imagine Kyoya drunk. Well, I kind of could. It was almost hilarious.

"So what are you doing over here, then?" I asked with a smirk. He glanced at me.

"I felt that you needed a nudge in the correct direction," he stated, straightening his jacket.

"What, are you going to tip me off my chair again?"

"Metaphorically speaking." He smiled. "I would head towards the garden. It's in that direction." He pointed. I couldn't see anything through the crowd at all but when I turned back, he was already off with someone else, introducing himself as the good little Ootori boy he was. I sighed, resigning myself to pushing through the crowd, apologising meekly as I did so. I got a few looks that told me my accent was pushing through somewhat and winced, trying to keep as far away from those people as possible. I imagined fashion people to be kind of like actors, and everyone knew actors were completely bitchy behind the scenes.

I unexpectedly stumbled out of the French doors onto the familiar decking, blinking from my sudden release from the oppressing crowds. The night wasn't cold, although it was overcast, and I was surprised there weren't more people out here. I looked out at the dark garden. Someone had put fairy lights up and the movement of the trees making them flutter and blink began to remind me of some Tolkien-esque wood. I imagined the elves dancing between the branches, the sound of the violins inside calling to them as only music could.

"Come, faeries, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame," I muttered to myself, half meaning it.

"Hey, Katya!" I turned to see Hikaru grinning at me. "When did you arrive?"

"Not long ago," I said. He glanced out at the garden.

"Were you talking to yourself?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was quoting," I said quickly. "Yeats, I think. I'm not entirely sure." I had half remembered that quote from an English lesson from long ago. I looked over Hikaru's shoulder and frowned.

"Hey, where's Kaoru? I'd have thought you were braving this together." Hikaru rolled his eyes.

"We were." He looked out at the garden again.

"Wait, did you guys have an argument or something?" I asked surprised. I didn't think it was possible for those two to fight. Hikaru rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.

"Who knows? He's being weird," he said, looking suddenly miserable. Then he seemed to pull himself together. "I should go and see where the others are. This party'll be boring until they're all here. Have you seen anyone?"

"Kyoya," I said with a face. Hikaru laughed. Kyoya's party mind was obviously known.

"Don't go far, okay? Everyone'll be here soon." I shrugged my understanding and he started back towards the door. Just before he reached it, he stopped.

"Oh, you look nice, by the way," he called over his shoulder. I grinned at the afterthought as he disappeared back into the party. The trees shuddered in the wind, whispering to each other. I glanced back at the crowd and decided it would be a while until Hikaru had rounded everyone up. I descended into the darkness of the garden.

I wandered along the path, swinging the bag restlessly. I still didn't know why I'd wanted to come so badly. It was probably just to spite Aunt Chiyoko in the end. I sighed. The fairy lights above me danced as the branches swayed, making beautiful patterns all over the ground. I followed the lights aimlessly as they darted through the trees and dropped to wind around the sides of the bridge. Taking off my heels, I climbed onto the railing, kicking my feet over the stream and watching the lights reflected in the running water, listening to the distant music. I didn't know what I was doing. I looked down at my reflection, curls falling past my face. How had I managed to look like I belonged here? How had I managed to convince everyone but myself of that? It worried me that I was enjoying myself. Enjoyment lead to getting used to things, and getting used to things only lead to sadness when you didn't have them anymore.

"Idiot," I told my shimmering reflection idly, tossing a stray twig into the river. As if in response, the wind decided to whistle down from the house and rush past me. The sudden burst whipped my hair into my face and I squeezed my eyes shut so I wouldn't be blinded, trying and failing to keep the ringlets in some sort of decent shape. The skirt caught, tugging at my legs. I swore at the errant gust of wind as it faded away. I imagine it laughed as it caught sight of my tangled hair.

"Katya?" I looked to my right. My preoccupation with the invisible annoyance had obviously shielded his approach. I went slightly pink as I realised he'd probably seen me swearing at absolutely nothing a second ago. I looked down at my hands, embarrassed.

"Oh. Hey, Kaoru." He didn't answer, just leant on the railing next to me and looked towards the house. I looked down at him. The grey suit, matching his brother's, was fitted to him perfectly and he looked… amazing. The wind ruffled his hair and suddenly I had goose-bumps all over my body. I started to feel self-conscious again and wondered if it was just me or the party that was turning me into a thirteen-year-old girl.

The longer the silence stretched on, the more nervous I became.

"It's a nice party." Way to go, Katya. So smooth. I cursed myself silently for my lack of charisma and wondered if the stream below was deep enough to drown in.

"It's alright," Kaoru said with a shrug. I looked down at him. Hikaru was right – he did seem a bit off.

"What's up with you?" I asked, nudging him. He glanced at me and then looked back at the water.

"Nothing." And they said girls were bad at telling people when something was wrong. I sighed, leaning back on my hands to stare at the dark sky. I'd been surprised by how many stars I could see around here.

"You have a funny reaction to nothing," I commented. "And whatever this nothing is, you might want to let Hikaru know."

"Hikaru?" He said, confused.

"Yeah. You know, your brother? Born on the same day? Lives in the same house? Kind of looks really similar to you?" He almost smiled at that and I poked him. "He knows something's wrong, Kaoru, and it's getting him down." His reflection stared at me.

"I wasn't… I didn't think…"

"You didn't think your twin brother with whom you share an almost psychic connection would be affected by this weird mood you're in?" He hung his head.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I should talk to Hikaru and I'm an idiot."

"Yes," I said wisely. "I don't know why you're an idiot but you are." I kicked my feet as the music at the house changed to something slightly more upbeat. Someone on the decking laughed loudly and there was a sound of clinking drinks. I wondered what they were toasting.

"Hey, Katya?" I looked down at his reflection, crossing my ankles.

"Yes?" He hesitated. I saw it in his face.

"You look beautiful." Blood rushed to my face and I turned a vibrant red. I played with my skirt, looking anywhere but directly at him.

"You don't look bad yourself," I said, faking cheerfulness.

"Katya." I looked at him then – I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself – and was immediately struck speechless. The lights danced in his amber eyes and though I had seen the same face just minutes before, everything about his seemed brighter, sweeter, captivating. I had laughed at myself for my fairies in the woods but here was something to rival even the most elaborate of my imagined fae. His delicate fingers reached up to twist a leaf from my hair, his eyes never wavering from mine. I wondered if this was how an out-of-body experience felt, as light and visions and absolutely no control. The music seemed to fade away. Half of my mind decided my champagne had been drugged; the other half gave up on me as a secret hopeless romantic.

I tried to tell myself that he was a host and probably did this to girls all the time but my heart decided not to listen, setting off on its own offbeat journey into hysteria. This wasn't right. I couldn't do this to him.

"Kaoru, I'm not so sure…" I started but couldn't quite bring myself to finish. He raised an eyebrow. Cursing myself for wanting to stay, and cursing myself for leaving, I span around and dropped onto the bridge.

"I should go," I muttered, going to pick up my shoes. His hand caught my wrist and spun me around and he kissed me.

It was like my entire world exploded and my mind began to race – every bad consequence of every action played in my memory, every failed attempt, every stupid action I'd taken. The sensible part of me tried to drown me in its disapproval but for once, I couldn't find it in me to care. He pulled me closer to him and I didn't resist. Who _would_? His lips were warm and his hand blazed on the back of my neck. I'd been kissed before but this… this was different. This was like all the stars in the universe had spiralled down into a single form and just a touch set me on fire.

In short, it was a damn good kiss.

"Kaoru!" Our moment shattered. We broke apart and I looked back at the house.

"Who's that?" I asked. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"My mother," he said, frustration evident. I laughed, leaning on the bridge.

"Go," I said. "It sounds like you're needed." He looked at me and for a second, I thought he was going to ignore them and stay. Then he sighed and set off at a run as he was called again.

"Don't go anywhere!" I waved as he disappeared into the trees. I let my hand drop to my side.

"Oh my god," I said. I began to feel giddy and span around on my toes, the skirt flaring out around me. I was _insane_. Completely, irrevocably and clinically insane. But I really didn't care. I was walking on air and even Jai couldn't touch me now. The lights around me danced with me in my ridiculous happiness, spinning around to the music that swirled around the garden. It was stupid. It was like something out of a story. It was amazing.

"Hello, Hayashi." I almost tripped over my own feet and stumbled to a stop. I looked around slowly, hoping I'd misheard, hoping I was going schizophrenic, hoping anything but who I actually saw.

When I said no one could touch me now, I hadn't expected the world to take that as a challenge.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Don't forget to review and tell me what you think. Any outlandish theories, any particular loves, any wishes, any hatreds, any criticisms, I want to hear them!<em>


	15. Party Of Two Acts: Two

Chapter Fifteen

Party Of Two Acts: Two

"Hello, Hayashi."

It's amazing how two words can ruin a whole quasi-magical evening. Suddenly the air that had seemed so warm turned to ice and the bridge under my bare feet was hard and unwelcoming. I stared at her.

"What are you doing here?" I blurted out. Tsubame looked at her hands and sighed.

"My parents are discussing a private investment deal in one of the Hitachiin lines but that's no business of yours. The question here really is-" She pointed a perfectly manicured nail at me. "What are _you_ doing here?" I wanted to walk away but my feet were suddenly made of lead. Damn her. Damn her and all her stupid cockroach friends. Her dress was white and puffy, contrasting sharply but not offensively with her dark hair and eyes. It was a bizarre kind of concoction of feathers and silk but I imagined it was at the height of fashion. I detested every single part of it by association with her.

"I was invited," I said shortly. She laughed and I was reminded strongly of Aunt Chiyoko. It was actually kind of scary the resemblance now I thought about it. They were both incessantly bitchy and determined to manipulate me for their own gain.

"I guess even the Hitachiin boys need entertainment sometimes," she said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, folding my arms and glaring at her. Looking faintly amused, she looked me up and down, her pity and disfavour clear on her punch-able face.

"You don't actually think that he's interested in you, do you?" That laugh came again. My blood ran cold but I shouldn't have been surprised that the little snake had been watching my entire blissful moment. She just had to taint that memory too. I wondered how many places there were to hide a body in the Hitachiin gardens.

"What are you saying?"

"Boys will be boys." She shrugged primly. "But none of these boys can sleep with us rich girls without repercussions. That's why they turn to girls like you." My blood boiled. She was… she was actually calling me a whore. I couldn't believe it. She'd struck new lows this evening. I think I bared my teeth.

"Why, you little-"

"How much are they paying you?" That brought me up short. I fumbled for an answer. They _were_ paying me but not for that. It wasn't for that. They were separate, different things.

"They're not," I said eventually but I'd paused too long. Her lips curled and she waved a hand.

"Oh, don't think I condone this, Hayashi. It's very mean." My eyes widened. What? She thought the idea of tricking me in sex was mean? That was not like Tsubame at all. She would think that was a hilarious idea and would use to humiliate me in as many ways as humanly possible.

"It's honestly appalling." She could have got brain damage. "Oh, it just makes me sick." Maybe she had been replaced by an alien.

"Really?" I asked hopefully.

"I mean, just think of what those poor boys could _catch_." My world settled back into its familiar place. I was so disappointed I didn't even take offence at the idea I was an STD-carrying slut. She sighed.

"That's why I'm doing this. I am saving them from themselves." She drew herself up and looked almost saint-like. I felt myself grow pale.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"We have a new deal, Hayashi," she said coldly. "You will stay away from the host club, especially the Hitachiin twins, and I won't do anything to your pathetic friends downtown." I felt light-headed. This couldn't be happening. Not this.

"No, you can't… Kaoru…" Tsubame glared at the mention of his name.

"You don't need to worry about your little crush. He'll be well looked after," she said with a smirk. I looked at her, a sudden foreboding squeezing at my heart with a sharp goblin-like hand.

"What do you mean?"

"It won't be long after the deal goes through that my father arranges the betrothal. You see, both my parents and Akemi's parents have had their eyes on the Hitachiin businesses for a long time. What better way to gain control than marriage? Don't you agree?" My brain tried to process this. Marriage? She had to be joking. They couldn't do that. That wasn't how the world worked. And he couldn't do that. He wouldn't.

Something inside me was being torn to shreds.

"The twins have more backbone than to agree to anything like that," I said angrily, hoping my confidence in them wasn't unfounded. "You can't just _arrange_ marriages, that's not how it works anymore!"

"Actually, Hayashi, that's exactly how it works here." A fingertip of ice ran down my back. My hands began to shake.

"Don't do this, Fukui. Not this." I felt a tear slip down my cheek and triumph flashed in her eyes. Finally. She'd waited so long for this moment and she'd fucking got it. I was furious with myself for crying in front of her but I didn't move to wipe it away.

"It looks like you'll have to make a choice."

"Please. _Please_." Oh god, I was begging. I had become soft, I realised, around these people. There was a time when I wouldn't beg even if they broke both my legs and seven ribs. I couldn't have the Sato family on the streets, not with Jai about, not ever. I knew Yuri would kill me for even putting myself in this position. But there was Kaoru. He filled my head and made me dizzy, like some sort of bizarre drug I was suddenly addicted to. I couldn't walk away from him, not now. Not now I was so close. Tsubame tapped her finger on her lips.

"I wonder how long that tiny brat of a Sato would last on the streets," she mused. My heart clenched.

"Not Suzu!" She looked at me and I hung my head. "Please. Don't do that to them." Her lips curled into a victorious smile. I had made my choice and she was ecstatic about it. My hands itched to stop this, right here, right now. I could throw her off the bridge and watch as that dress dragged her down. I could beat her head against a tree until she fell permanently comatose. My heels were probably sharp enough to bury into her eye and catch her brain and I probably wouldn't feel all that guilty about it afterwards.

But I knew, logically, that one movement towards her would have the apartment block empty and me in some god forsaken cell, slowly rotting away as everyone forgot about that weird English girl that was there one semester.

"It's probably time for you to leave now. Don't you think?" Tsubame said sweetly. I clenched my fists.

"One day," I snarled. She waved her hand unconcerned.

"Dream all you wish, Hayashi. I've still won." I snatched up my shoes and ran. I didn't pay attention to which way I was going. As long as it was away from her, before she forced some other horror into my life. I stopped, stumbling in the darkness. My entire happiness was coming crashing down around me and no matter how I played this in my head, I couldn't get out of this. Not even murder was going to get me out of this one, not when Akemi existed. I pulled on my shoes, ignoring the mascara that was now running down my face. I should have known something like this was happening. Whenever something right happened in my life, the universe pulled itself together and ripped everything I'd gained into tiny little pieces of evil and disappointment.

Fuck the universe.

* * *

><p>The deck was still aglow and full of laughter but everything seemed dulled as I slipped out of the trees my eyes on the ground. I couldn't see the shock of auburn hair anywhere. Good. I couldn't face him, or Hikaru. Not now. In fact, I probably wasn't even allowed to. I felt sick. The host club sat around, chatting, and they all looked amazing, effortlessly gorgeous and at home. Even Haruhi had donned a suit for the occasion but the cut was surprisingly flattering and Tamaki couldn't keep his eyes off her. Honey was the first to see me and he bounced down the steps onto the lawn.<p>

"Kat-chan! We've been waiting for… Kat-chan?" I walked past his wide eyes, not looking at any of them. I felt their startled eyes but I reasoned that was because the mess I'd made of my make-up. I couldn't say anything. There was a sob stuck in my throat and I desperately wanted to keep it there. Haruhi rose to say something but I didn't stop as I crossed the deck towards the doors, eyes fixed on the ground. A hand caught my arm.

"Katya?" Kyoya asked. "What's wrong?"

"This was a mistake," I choked furiously. He let go, surprised, and I disappeared into the party. I had to get away. I had to put all of this out of my head. This was pathetic. Soft. This was exactly what I'd tried to avoid for years and one handsome boy had pulled me out into the open, an easy target. Ever since I'd moved here, I'd sunk into a despicable version of myself that let things affect her, who let her emotions get in the way of what actually mattered. I couldn't sway from my decision. It was the right one, I knew, but my heart was desperately trying to convince me otherwise. It had been so long since I'd felt this heartbroken and I hated it. I hated myself. I had to get back to how I used to be. I had to be strong again. I had to be untouchable.

As the car pulled away from the house, I let myself burst into long overdue tears.


	16. People Do Crazy Things

Chapter Sixteen

People Do Crazy Things

I decided my life was over.

I settled into some sort of half-asleep routine which involved avoiding pretty much everyone in my life until I got home, crawled under my quilt and tried to welcome a sleep that never really came. I tried to figure out why all this was happening to me. I tried to figure out what it was that I had done for karma to be such a cold-hearted bitch. If I went really far back, my problem was that I'd been born a Hayashi and not a nobody. If I wanted to blame myself, it'd be because I couldn't leave well enough alone and just had to get involved with things – saving Haruhi being the moment I was blaming most of all, the epicentre of all these damn complications.

But as I have said before, good deeds always blew up in my face with unexpected consequences.

Consequence One: Jai was spending every waking moment searching for 'his' little English bitch that once tried to brain him with a school bag, to the point where I felt he was always watching me.

Consequence Two: If I spend any more time with the Host Club, Tsubame was going to sell the apartment block I was currently calling home for commercial use.

I'd had a hard time convincing Yuri that Kaoru had done nothing wrong. Apparently arriving home and not being able to stop crying had sent him into some sort of head-bashing frenzy that only two hours of insistence had cooled. My refusal to tell him what had actually happened had not helped – in fact, he had gone from crazily protective to distantly angry in one evening. The fact that I kept leaving my phone at home in a desperate attempt to be alone was not making things any better.

From what I knew, the Host Club were confused. Who could blame them? We were getting along so well and then I quite literally ran away like they carried the new plague. And Koaru… I'd seen him, once. The pain in my chest had been unexpected and unwelcome and I'd disappeared before they saw me, leaning on the sink in the bathroom and staring at my reflection. The bags under my eyes taunted my sleepless nights and my increasing weight loss reminded me of all the meals I'd forgotten to eat. Who knew heartbreak was the diet for me? I tried to smile at my reflection but it just looked forced and pained. I decided that I would stay looking depressed.

I slowed down as I entered the courtyard. There was a chill in the air today so it was blissfully quiet outside, while the rest of the students huddled in reading rooms or lunch halls. Everyone seemed to have so much free time at this school. Then again, the days were longer than I was used to and seemed even longer with no one to talk to. I rubbed my eyes wearily and looked around for somewhere to sit.

The sudden yanking of my schoolbag didn't provoke a reaction. I watched without moving as it hit the ground, my things scattering across the path. I'd really stopped caring.

"Well, that was slightly disappointing, Hayashi," Tsubame said, stepping into sight and folding her arms.

"What do you want, Tsubame?" I asked dully. She tutted.

"That's awfully familiar, Hayashi. I don't think we've quite reached that point yet."

"What do you want?" I repeated. She didn't answer but pursed her lips, obviously displeased with my reaction. I saw her friends hiding not-so-stealthily behind the bushes, watching, waiting. Akemi didn't bother to hide – she stood five steps behind the leader of the group, her eyes narrowed in anticipation.

"Aren't you eager," Tsubame said.

"Have you actually thought of something new to do to me? Because I have a test to study for." It almost worried me how detached I sounded. My lack of interest in pretty much everything was creeping into every part of my life and I felt like I was drowning. Yuri barely spoke to me, depressing as I was, and Suzu no longer called out to me at bedtime, curling silently under her blanket with heartbreakingly sad eyes. I felt like I couldn't do anything anymore. I was trying to keep everything in a box, a tiny little box that was much too small for its use, because otherwise I was going to make a bad choice. At this point, I couldn't afford to do that. Tsubame really didn't like my disinterest but apparently I was right because she turned away, sniffing.

"I'm just making sure you're obeying the rules."

"I know the rules," I said impassively, watching as they walked away, disappointed.

It never was much fun when your favourite toy got broken.

* * *

><p>I reached the hallway and fumbled in my bag for my keys. I hadn't finished my work and I was falling really behind. I knew that was my own fault but it didn't stop it annoying me any less. I almost swore when I realised my keys were in fact in my coat pocket in my bedroom. I ran my fingers through my knotted hair and resigned myself to facing Yuri's lecture on being responsible and pulling myself together. It was really late. The streets were almost empty and streetlights were flickering into life. I'd wandered somewhat. I knew I was being pathetic. I really did. I always hated heroines in books for doing exactly what I was doing but it didn't make it any easier.<p>

The open door drew me up short.

"Stop!" I heard Yuri say and every hair on my body stood on its end. There was fear, real fear, in that voice. I shifted closer.

"Shut up." Jai's snarl sent my heart slamming into the floor and I slapped my hand over my mouth to stop myself shrieking. "Tell me where she is."

"She's not here! You've looked!" This couldn't be happening. Why now? I tried to figure out what he was doing while desperately searching my brain for any kind of escape plan. I couldn't think of one.

"I know she's not in the apartment, Sato," Jai sneered. "Where is she _now_?"

"How am I supposed to know? I'm not psychic!" Yuri snapped.

The next moment was perhaps the worst moment of my entire life. Now, I'd had some bad moments in my life. The moment I realised that living in a home was not normal and that everyone had to have parents. The first time I got the shit beaten out of me. There were lots of fights, lots of pain and a lot of people leaving me. I thought I'd had all I was going to get. I thought that the absolute humiliation of walking away would be the most heart-shattering thing that had happened. I thought that my increasing loneliness was my biggest problem.

Then I heard the tiny, almost inaudible squeak of a five-year-old girl in a psychopath's grasp and I realised in a flash that everything else was remarkably insignificant.

"Please," Yuri begged, drowning out Suzu's quiet whimpering. "Please, don't hurt her." I looked down at the floor, my mind working furiously.

I was a _fucking_ idiot.

The sleek and dangerous anger looked wrong in the apartment, almost terrifying. Not to anyone else, I supposed. People who didn't know him would just see a handsome young man with dark eyes and wonder about his past. For us, his very presence ignited our fight-or-flight instincts – unfortunately mine tended to get a bit confused. Jai was standing in the kitchen, his fingers gripping Suzu's curly hair tight. I could just see her over the sofa. She was shivering and crying and trying to pry his hand from her head, and I was glad, so glad, that the knife he was holding wasn't in her eye line, shining under the lights, immaculately clean. Yuri stared at them from the other side of the room, his hands held up like he was placating a wild animal, which he was, in a way. His eyes never left his sister. Not for a moment.

I took this in in the three seconds it took me to slide into the doorway and throw my schoolbag.

There was a momentary pause as it bounced off Jai's face and landed in the sink.

"S'up," I said in English ,as he processed that it had happened _again_, and then I ran for my life.

I heard a yelp and a thud and Jai stumbled into the corridor, his face contorted with fury. He almost tripped over my discarded blazer as I caught the railing and swung myself onto the stairs. He lunged and grabbed for me but I was already half falling and half running down the steps. Partway down, a yell made me glance up.

"Do you have a plan?" I leapt over to the next set of steps, glancing up as Yuri leant over the rail.

"Do I look like I have a plan?!" I cried back, reaching the ground floor and slamming out of the front door. The car park seemed empty to me but of course, that would have made it too easy. Tattoos leapt out from behind the Ford, obviously waiting for my escape. I wondered why they hadn't just appeared when I'd arrived home. I swung my elbow with full force into the side of the guy's head and sent him crashing into the wall. Movement behind me made me spin, duck a punch and aim a kick at the second guy's midriff. He folded satisfyingly.

"She's mine!" Jai snarled from somewhere behind me.

"Oh, no, I'm really not," I muttered, skidding into an alley and bursting out the other side. I sprinted down the skinny main street, vaulting over the inconveniently placed boxes of wares. It tumbled to the ground and I yelled an apology over my shoulder at the disgruntled shop owner, who immediately leapt back inside as Jai streaked past him after me. I slid over the bonnet of a car and down another side street. My boots rang in the quiet streets as I bounced off walls to turn corners. Where the hell was everyone when you needed witnesses? I doubted the poor shop owner would call the police or anything. That street had had enough of Jai already.

I looked behind me as I disappeared into the mass of backstreets between Haruhi's district and the next. He was falling behind, but I could still see the rage on his angular face. With a wince, I picked up the pace. When I'd rescued Suzu, I hadn't really thought about my exit strategy. I wasn't even sure I ever thought about my exit strategy. That would probably explain a lot. I slid to a stop and ran down a perpendicular street. Behind me, Jai tried to stop and smashed into the bins on the corner with a crash.

"Ha!" I shouted over my shoulder before running face-first into a wall.

Dead end.

A hand grabbed the back of my shirt and dragged me to my feet. I span around and aimed a punch at his face, my brain ringing. He caught my fist and twisted. I gave a yelp and swung up to meet his chin.

He caught that too. I was really on bad form.

He slammed my hands into the wall above my head. I hated having tiny little hands. I kicked at him but the sudden appearance of the knife in his other hands made me fall still. I laughed nervously.

"Tag?" I asked hopefully. He slapped me and I bit the inside of my cheek.

"Finally," he hissed. I spat blood onto the ground.

"What do you want, a medal?" I muttered. He leant in really close. I couldn't shrink away any further – there was this big brick thing in the way.

"I have been looking forward to this." I had a feeling that meant I really, really didn't want it to happen. He pressed the knife against my skin and every nerve went on full alert. I forced my teeth together as he cut down my upper arm, his eyes alight. He glanced at me with a smirk.

"Aren't you brave?" He chuckled, cutting at my uniform with the bloody knife. I closed my eyes, wishing it had been made thicker. Ripping open the vest would usually have had me scrambling for a rape whistle or something but that wasn't really what Jai was after.

I hoped.

"Lovely," he breathed, leaving a smear of blood as he ran the flat of the knife along my stomach. I couldn't resist. I spat in his face.

He didn't seem bothered by it. He stared me in the eyes and struck with the knife suddenly. I let out a shriek as it plunged into my shoulder. He grinned, pulling it out and moving to my right side to carve a line that crossed my collar bone and dipped between my breasts. I stared at the sky, trying to hold it together. My eyes watered but I wasn't going to cry. Not anymore and definitely not for this sick bastard. He sliced my stomach along my bra line and I choked down my scream.

"Don't worry," he whispered in my ear.

"I'm not fucking worried," I growled through gritted teeth. He laughed, cutting swirling lines into my side.

"I'm not going to kill you," he murmured and I was honestly surprised. I was expecting hours of torture before he got bored and put me out of my contorted, screaming misery. And yet here he was, perhaps lying to my face. The knife tugged at the hemline of my skirt and I resolutely stared at the sky.

"I'm testing you." His breath was hot on my hear and I wanted to flinch away in disgust, squeezing my eyes shut. "How much of this can you take, English?"

"As much as I have to, you twisted son of a bitch." The skin on my thigh became marred with three parallel lines, the warm blood running down my leg. He stared at me, his gaze hungry.

"I like these," he said, gently tracing old scars with the tip of his knife. "Who gave you these?"

"Some other twisted son of a bitch," I muttered. That particular tormenter never touched me again but I wasn't about to tell this guy that. It would only spur him on. Jai's fingers on my cheek made me jump and my eyes flew open.

"You're doing well," he commented.

"Thanks for the assessment," I choked as blood ran down my cheek and over my neck. My body hated me. Shocks of pain ran up my body every time I twitched and Jai wasn't done. Jai was nowhere near done, his cuts curling and creative as he watched the blood run from my wounds. He was completely crazy, I realised. More than I'd thought. He was avoiding my old scars, I noticed, like he was respecting the other guy's work. As long as he avoided my arteries, I could take this, I decided. As long as he wasn't going to kill me, what the hell did I have to be afraid of? Agony at another cut reminded me. And then another. And another.

This went on for a very, very long time.

Blood loss is not fun. I knew this from experience and had not enjoyed it to first time. My breath came in short bursts and I was starting to feel dizzy. I wasn't standing up anymore – Jai was holding me there as blood ran down my body and pooled at my feet. I wasn't conscious enough to work out how much blood I'd lost but I was still awake. Kind of. I hoped it wasn't fatal. Jai tipped my head up to look at me critically.

"It looks like you're reaching your limit." He let go of me and I crumpled to the ground. I couldn't move. My limbs felt heavy and nothing was responding. He knelt down, a smile on his lips.

"This is the last part of the test, English. Let's see how you magic your way out of this one before you bleed out, shall we?" He leant down and kissed my forehead. If I'd had any say in what my body was doing, I'd have become a ball of scratching, biting fury. Instead, I think I whimpered embarrassingly. He shook his head, stroking my blood-soaked hair.

"See you soon, English." He stood and his shoes walked out of my field of view, blood staining the soles of his feet.

I was so tired. I tried to keep my eyes open. If I fell asleep, I knew I might not wake up again. I didn't have enough in me to cry. I wanted to apologise – to Yuri and Suzu, to Haruhi, to Kaoru. I watched as red ran down the cracks in the pavement and began to hallucinate that I heard footsteps running towards me. Darkness was creeping into my vision and when I passed out, it felt like I'd fallen through the ground and flown away.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note: Stay tuned. Updates might slow down from here on out!<em>


	17. Between A Rock

Chapter Seventeen

Between A Rock

My eyes hurt. I had never been a fan of light in the morning, or of mornings in general, but this light seemed exceptionally bright. I squinted upwards and wondered why I was floating. Slowly my brain began to claw its way out the fuzziness that had taken hold of me and Jai's face leapt to the front of my memory. For a second, I was back there, staring at the stars, and the feeling of warmth running down my body was so real. I felt terror flicked along my spine and took a deep breath in, trying to concentrate. I forced my eyes open.

White. White, not dark. That was a good sign, I decided, as the blurring settled to show the distinct outline of a light. That was also a good sign, considering it probably meant I was alive or in some _really_ crappy afterlife. Slight movement to my left insisted I turn my head stiffly. I sighed and looked back at the ceiling.

"Two things." My tongue was heavy and my words sounded a little slurred.

"Go ahead," Kyoya said, turning a page of his book.

"I'm not dead."

"Correct."

"This isn't a hospital."

"Also correct." He glanced up at me. "Welcome to the Ootori household." Kyoya's house, eh? The clinical theme, mixed in with the suspiciously comfortable armchair he was perched in, felt distinctly strange and yet completely accurate for him. I felt something twinge as I narrowed my eyes at the quietly beeping box next to me as. I vaguely remembered something about Kyoya's family owning a hospital or something, which explained why I was here and not there. They could probably have any doctor they wanted visiting the house at any point. There was a tube in my arm. I hated tubes in my arm but whatever was in the bag on the other end seemed important. I had probably become immensely dehydrated or something. I knew the feeling of my flesh turning to cotton wool – this was an opiate and a damn strong painkiller. I lifted the thin cover and looked down at myself. I closely resembled a mummy.

"Yuri called you." Kyoya raised an eyebrow.

"Again, correct. Although that's three things," he commented, going back to his book. "Leaving your mobile phone in the apartment in that situation was not the smartest idea you've ever had." I gave a vague sigh. I hadn't hallucinated the footsteps I'd heard after all. I tried to push myself up but he placed a firm hand on my shoulder and the tremors than ran down my arms told me that wasn't going to happen. I sank down reluctantly.

"Uh… you haven't… I mean," I swallowed, trying to gather my thoughts. "Who knows I'm here?"

"No one besides myself, your doctor and Mr Sato are aware of your current whereabouts. I assumed that was how you would want it."

"Yuri?" I glanced at him quickly and my head span somewhat. "Yuri's here? Is he okay?"

"Sato is fine. As is his sister. Both of them were very worried, although your friend had some choice things to say about your plan." There was a rather loud click and I rolled my eyes to find the source.

"There wasn't exactly a plan…" I admitted, my brain going all cloudy as more painkillers flooded my system. I wanted to say I didn't want them. I was having a hard time gauging the damage to my body when I couldn't feel it. I decided that it must be bad if they were putting this much energy into me staying half way between reality and dreamland. I was vaguely aware of Kyoya standing up but I was already away with the fairies.

* * *

><p>This time, not only did my eyes hurt but the surface of my body felt like it had been attacked by a sandpaper tornado that had also forced itself down my airways. God, I was thirsty. I could feel the dull pain of each slice with every heartbeat and every breath and wondered how long I could suspend both of those things. I tried to drift back to blissful sleep but to no avail – my foggy wonderland was gone and replaced by the heavy, cold and uncomfortably bright reality. I kept my eyes closed, trying to find solace in the slightly orange-tinged darkness, but apparently that wasn't about to happen.<p>

"Waking up, sleeping beauty?"

"No," I muttered. "I'm asleep. Go 'way." Yuri snorted and I felt a weight on my bed. I glared down, the bright room swimming.

"Oi, ugly. Get your feet of my bed," I demanded. My voice was all croaky. He didn't and my attempts to dislodge them sent spasms of pain up my side. I gave up, frustrated.

"I preferred you on drugs," Yuri commented, putting his hands behind his head and rocking back on his chair.

"Yeah, so did I." I pushed myself into a sitting position to assess my injuries. There were a lot of them. I ran my hand over the bandages under the hospital gown, wincing whenever I found one. I'd love to say that I couldn't remember him giving me some of them but I did. I remembered every single one. I rubbed at my forehead absently, wondering if dousing myself in bleach would get rid of the horror of that last moment or if I was forever scarred. I felt like his lips were acid and I'd have a permanent mark screaming to everyone that a psychopath had touched me.

"You seem back to normal." I gave Yuri a 'wtf' look and he backtracked. "Not your body, obviously. I mean… you seem happier. Kind of."

"I had an epiphany about perspective," I said and looked down again.

"He really did a number on me, huh?" I joked. Yuri didn't say anything and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Nothing? Not a peep out of you? No 'please let me kill him, Katya'? No 'we were really worried'? No 'you almost died'?" I nudged his foot. "Speak, o silent one."

"You are completely fucking crazy but I was specifically asked not to shout at you," he said calmly. I looked at him, surprised. He was angry at me. Again.

"I didn't ask for him to cut me into pieces, you know."

"I never said you did." Wow. I felt a sudden surge of anger myself. No matter what I did, this guy was always angry at me, like I'd made the wrong freaking decision. I didn't pick the option that hurt me the most on purpose. Hell, it wasn't like I did this shit for the fun of it. I didn't run around the city looking to get into trouble for no reason. It would be nice, for once, if getting the absolutely shit beaten out of me wasn't _my_ fault for trying to save his ungrateful ass.

"Fine. Next time save your own fucking skin, alright?" He looked up at me, surprised.

"Katya…"

"No, it's fine," I said with false cheer. "Next time you fight the crazy person threatening your family and I will sit back and lecture you for doing it wrong. Sound fair?" I caught myself as I slipped down the pillows and glared at him. He looked at me oddly.

"I'm… I'm sorry?" He said hesitantly, obviously testing the waters. I sighed a little. It wasn't his fault, not really. He didn't know how often I took shit for his family but if he did, I just knew he'd be even more angry at me. I decided that he didn't have to know that part.

Except, of course, for the fact that Kyoya was probably, slowly and inevitably putting everything together and they were for some reason in the same building as each other. I wondered if third sons disappearing was a normal occurrence or would inspire a manhunt I didn't have the energy to escape.

"Hey, cripple. You're zoning out on me." My brain screeched to a halt and Yuri raised an eyebrow. "What are you thinking about so hard?" I winced.

"Uh…" The door opened, saving me from explaining, and I thanked whatever weird-ass diety that had taken a liking to me.

"Mr Sato, I believe I specifically said not to wind her up." Yuri leapt to his feet.

"Sorry, Mr Ootori," he said. I swear he almost bowed as Kyoya came in, followed by a rather short doctor with nervous eyes. I turned a laugh into a cough and Yuri shot me a brief glare. In the same room was good, I decided. I couldn't give them a chance to talk in too much depth – Yuri could not know about Tsubame and I would rather like it if Kyoya didn't know why I was where I was. I knew that between the two of them they could dig up pretty much everything. I was really not a fan of these parts of my life clashing.

I settled back, every part of me throbbing. I disliked the fact that they'd taken me off pain medication. That meant they thought I was healing wonderfully. Now, I'd had some experience with knife wounds – not many myself, but I had experience – and they tended not to heal overnight. The doctor picked the chart up from the end of the bed, flicking through the pages.

"So seeing as everyone has thus far avoided saying it," I said, folding my arms. "How bad was it and how long was I out?" Yuri glanced at Kyoya, which told me the answer was probably 'bad' and 'longer than we'd have liked'.

"You lost an impressive amount of blood but nothing a quick transfusion couldn't fix," Kyoya said absently, looking at the page the doctor was showing him.

"Why doesn't it surprise me that you have my blood type in those files of yours?" I muttered.

"And you have been 'out' for three days, maybe closer to four." If I'd have been drinking, I'd have sprayed my drink all over Yuri.

"I'm sorry," I said after a moment. "Could you repeat that? Because I must have heard you wrong." He didn't correct himself and I pushed off the covers.

Three _days_? Was he _serious_? I couldn't have been out for three days. You can't explain three missed days away – you can't catch up on school work in a class where you don't have any friends. My Aunt Chiyoko would be furious and if there was one person I definitely didn't want involved, it was that woman. Even the thought of her wrinkled nose at my condition made me long for something to sink my fist into. I swung my legs off the bed and Yuri sat up, looking at the doctor.

"Hey, is she allowed to be-" I stood up and the floor very promptly appeared a millimetre or so from my face. I held up a hand.

"Hey, doc. I think my legs are on strike." Kyoya's shoes came around the edge of the bed.

"You've been lying down replenishing blood for the last eighty seven hours. I'm surprised you even wanted to stand up," he commented.

"I have stuff to do," I said into the floor. Yuri's feet lifted to my bed again. "Hey!"

"What? You're not using it," he said and I could hear the smirk. I sighed, irritated, and held out a hand.

"A little help?" Yuri grasped my arm with a chuckle and I was hoisted back onto the bed. I glared down at my legs. My entire left thigh was heavily bandaged. I ran my fingers over the thin dressing on the right, knowing what lay underneath – three very distinct parallel lines. I might as well have been attacked by a bloody animal.

"This is temporary, right?" I asked the doctor. "I'm not going to be limping for the rest of my life or anything?" The short man looked at me, startled. I expected he wasn't used to be referred to when there was an Ootori in the room.

"Of course not. Now you are awake and obviously eager to get around, the strength should return in a couple of days. None of the cuts made any lasting damage, except for the one on your left shoulder. You may feel some weakness in that arm for a while." I pressed my hand to the spot, testing. Yup. Hurt. "Other than that, there will probably be some slight scarring from some others, specifically…" The doctor flipped through the folder. "The injuries on your right legs, your right side, along your abdomen and upper chest. In, uh, addition to the existing ones." I felt two pairs of judging eyes that I resolutely ignored. I don't know why they were so surprised. My life in England had never really come up before and it wasn't like previous fights were a normal topic of conversation around here, but surely, surely they didn't think I'd got this way by having a completely normal childhood. Come on. I was basically a bitch.

"All the others should heal without complications," the doctor said, snapping the folder shut and relieving the sudden tension. I ran a hand along my collarbone, wondering how bad the loose s-shape scar would really be. At least the one of my face would heal fine – I hated face wounds. The stitches were always really itchy and they were really hard to explain.

"You should be back on your feet the weekend," he added as my thoughts began to wander.

"Great," I said distractedly. Back on my feet definitely didn't mean healed. I was going to have to explain this away somehow. Luckily, I'd had quite a lot of practice at that.

"Excellent. Katya, you will be back at work on Monday." What? I couldn't go back to work. That wasn't going to happen. I hadn't been at work for over a week and he knew, I knew he knew, that it had nothing to do with them or me. Even this was dangerous, I realised suddenly. What if Tsubame found out I was at Kyoya's _house_? She would kill me. It might not be as bad as being at the Hitachiin house but she would still string me up and let Akemi beat me like a piñata. I looked up at Kyoya and had an epiphany.

He was asking me. He was asking me whether this had anything to do with Tsubame. He was asking me if everything could be over with one small nod of my head and the best lawyers money could get. I wanted to say yes. I wanted to blame her. I wanted to lump Jai and Tsubame into one horrible, horrible package and send it off to rot in prison. However, I wasn't a _completely_ evil person so I gave a small shake of my head. This wasn't her. This wasn't something they could help with. A slightly raised eyebrow gave away his wondering as to how much trouble one person could be in. The answer being 'a lot'.

And then, there was Yuri.

"Hang on. She almost _died_ and you're asking her to go back to a job that necessitates she _fight people_? Are you insane?" He demanded. I winced, sinking back. I may or may not have been blaming Tsubame's recent attention on the job that I technically hadn't been going to. Kyoya pulled out his infamous dead stare.

"Her job details security only," he stated and I knew he suspected what Yuri had been told. I burrowed deeper into my pillows, wanting to disappear. "However, in light of the circumstances, I will grant you leave, Katya." Kyoya levelled his gaze at me and pinned me to the bed. "However, I expect your life to be in order sooner rather than later." I grimaced behind Yuri's back.

This had changed nothing. Nothing at all. All that had happened was I'd passed whatever sick test Jai had sprung on me and made myself a much easier target.

Sorting my life out was much easier said than done.


	18. Ladies Don't Start Fights

Chapter Eighteen

Ladies Don't Start Fights

You would think that almost dying would change more than just making it difficult for me to walk up the stairs without parts of me pulling painfully. In fact, nothing really changed at all, except for the nightmares where I couldn't move and I couldn't speak and all I could see was his face and all I could feel was the pain, over and over until I woke up.

Well, the nightmares and the gifts.

The first one arrived on Wednesday, my first day home. I opened the door and limped into the apartment grumpily. Yuri looked up from the kitchen where something smelt amazing and grinned. I'd been force-fed weird hospital food for the last few days. No amount of arguing with Kyoya that I wasn't actually in a hospital had changed it. I collapsed onto the sofa lengthways. Yuri rapped on the top of my head with a wooden spoon and a half-smile.

"I take it you won't be giving me a hand with dinner?" He asked.

"I am an injured woman," I said, swatting at the utensil. "And injured woman should not have to make dinner."

"You never make dinner anyway," he commented, leaning over the back of the sofa.

"That's because I suck at it," I said, wiggling to get comfortable. Yuri made a face to confirm my claim and dodged the cushion I aimed at his head. I sighed as he went back to cooking. This was nice. This was one thing that had changed – Yuri and I were back on track. He wasn't angry at me and I wasn't becoming a hermit. Life was pretty much good, except for everything else. I decided I would worry about that when it got there.

"Oh, I think you missed getting your results back or something." I lifted myself to look at him.

"What are you on about?" I asked.

"You know, for whatever exams you've been taking?" He flashed me a grin. "Well, whatever. You passed – congrats. Your boyfriend sent you flowers this morning." My confusion evaporated as my mind squealed. Had Kaoru forgiven me? He wasn't my boyfriend, I told myself firmly. Maybe Yuri was having me on and they were just get-well-flowers sent from a neighbour. If they were from Kaoru, though, perhaps I shouldn't give up so easily. If he could look past me literally running away and ignoring him for a fortnight, he could put up with anything.

And I was a lot to put up with.

I pushed myself off the sofa and shuffled in the direction Yuri was waving his curry-covered spoon. The single pink rose stood in a delicate glass vase that glittered when I picked it up. There was a single black ribbon around it with a small note. It was all very classy. I would never admit it to, well, anyone, but I had a certain weakness for the classic and traditional, in a kind of British way. I didn't think I had let on, though. How observant must he have been, to know that? Perhaps, it was a lucky guess. A very, very lucky guess, I thought with a smile and turned over the note.

The vase shattered on the floor.

"What the hell? Are you alright?" I shook my head, waiting for my heart to calm down. My hands were shaking. I held up the note. Yuri gripped my wrist and took from me, reading it again.

"'_Well done, English. It looks like you've passed. I knew you would.'_ Okay," he said simply and frowned at me. "What's got you freaked out?" I backed into the sofa and sat down before I fell.

"Jai," I croaked eventually. Yuri dropped the note like it was on fire.

"_What_?"

"I didn't die. I passed the test," I said dully. Yuri looked from me to the flower and back again.

"Test? What kind of test is that?!" He exclaimed. "Does that psycho think you should be happy about this or something?!"

"I don't _know_, Yuri!" I shouted and he shut up. I ran my hands through my hair, trying not to hyperventilate. He sent me a rose. What kind of game was he playing? If he was trying to drive me insane, he was succeeding. If he was trying to make me afraid, he was doing well. If he was trying to make me feel better? I would rather have had a horse's head from him than a rose. At least then the message was clear. _I knew you would._ Like he was rooting for me or something. What did this guy want?

"I'll clear it up," I said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Yuri breathed, staring at the glass. I grinned at him.

"Food." He span back to where dinner was on the verge of burning. He managed to bring it back as I swept the debris into a plastic bag and burying it as far into the bin as I could get it.

"So, the next one we toss out the window, huh?" He joked. I stuck my tongue out and collapsed back on the sofa, determined that Jai's little scare tactic would work on me. I wasn't going to give in to the fear of him. I was going to be calm, I was going to be cool and I was going to live my own damn life without interference from that miserable sadistic little sod.

The single rose taped to our door the next morning decided that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Yuri did, in fact, throw it out the window.

* * *

><p>Tattoos leant against the wall by the front door, whistling loudly. Every so often, he rotated his neck to make loud popping sounds and flexed his sinewy arms. None of his leader's charisma had passed onto this guy. He was ugly as a troll, a fact not help by his many piercings, and stringy as cat's cradle, relatively tall but always hunched his shoulders. His finger nails were blackened by the constant rolling of cigarettes and his yellow teeth weren't complete without one clenched between them. He had the Monday morning watch, it seemed, and the rolling of eyes said he wasn't particularly pleased with the assignment.<p>

"You look bored."

"Yeah," he said and his voice was kind of nasally. I rolled my eyes. He was a complete idiot. I grabbed his shoulder and punched him in the gut. He doubled over, cigarette falling to the ground. His face made contact with my knee and he shot back upright howling, which quickly stopped when I latched my hand around his throat and pinned him to the wall.

"Let's make this more interesting for you then," I snarled. He stared at me, blood running from his nose, but he didn't say anything. Not yet.

"What's Jai's game?"

"Huh?" He croaked. I looked at the sky, frustrated. Of course I would pick the stupid guy. I fished the trashed rose head out of my uniform pocket and shoved it in his face.

"These, you bumbling piece of asshat," I hissed. "What are these about?"

"They're flowers," he said slowly. I wished for strength and punched him in the face. Between my fist and the wall, his face didn't stand a chance.

"My nose!" He said thickly, looking cross-eyed at the suspiciously bent appendage.

"I'm going to break a lot more than that if you don't start answering my questions," I threatened him, hooking my finger through one of his hooped earring. He rolled his eyes as far as they could go to watch.

"No, wait," he stammered, fumbling for his words.

"What," I said icily. "Are the flowers for?"

"They're for you!" I tugged on the earring a little. "Ah! I'm serious! That's all he said, that he was sending flowers to his girl." I resisted ripping the ring off.

"There has to be more to it than that," I muttered. He shook his head and quickly stopped as the earring pulled at his ear.

"It's not! I swear on my grandmother!" I rolled my eyes. Like I hadn't heard that one before.

"Okay, fine. Let's pretend I believe you." His ear was stretching dangerously. "Tell me about the test." His eyes widened then narrowed as he tried to figure out what to say. I let him think. This guy was obviously missing a few lines of code. Tattoos's face contorted in confusion as his brain began to overheat.

"It was… just a test," he said, trying to put it into words. "Like… he wanted to see if he was right about you or something."

"Right about me _how_?" I demanded. I was getting impatient but he just shook his head and insisted that was all he knew. I wondered if he was lying but that really didn't matter. I wasn't actually doing this for information anymore. I was tired of being a pawn in Jai's endless game of crazy. I was fed up of not doing anything so I'd come up with what I thought was a pretty damn good solution. If violence was all that got through to this guy, then I would pick off his followings one by one. He was sending them right to me – how could I refuse? And how seriously would other gangs take him if they were being beaten by one girl? Hell, I could ruin not only his following but his entire underworld standing, whatever that was. I'd got enough from this guy to know that Jai was just insane, but I already knew that. I looked at Tattoos for a second and then ripped the earring away from him. He screamed, quickly turning to a yelp as I let go and he fell to the floor.

"My ear!" It was streaming blood as ears were wont to do. He gazed up at me with a mixture of anger and confusion and I kicked him in the face. He fell back, too stunned to make a noise as I threw the bloodied earring at his prone form.

"That was for Yuri, you stupid son of a bitch," I spat, stepping over him as he groaned. Brushing down my uniform, I checked myself for bloodstains carefully and couldn't find any. I ran my fingers over the bandages under my clothes, checking that I hadn't overstretched the healing cuts. I was all good.

"Have a good day at school." I turned to look at Daisuke, surprised.

"Uh… what…" I struggled to explain what he had just seen without seeming like a complete nutcase. Before I could, he smiled at me.

"Me? Oh, I'm just taking out the trash," he said and put one foot on Tattoos's midriff. I stared at him and he pointed over my shoulder.

"Go. You'll be late," he said and I grinned, taking off as he knelt down to hoist Tattoos over his shoulder. I guess I wasn't the only nutcase in the building after all.

I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out this morning's rose. I stared at it as I walked, trying to see into Jai's mind. After a few minutes, I dashed it at a wall. Who gave a shit what he was thinking, anyway?

I was going to finish it.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Some of the more observant might notice that I occasionally use quotes for my titles. I apologise for this. It just happens.<em>


	19. The Music Of A People

Chapter Nineteen

The Music Of A People

I pushed a book back onto the library shelf and sighed. Nothing seemed to interest me in this section. I was determined to catch back up with my Japanese class but all I wanted to read was the familiar things, which wouldn't help me at all but would distract me from my other problems. The three roses were weighing heavily on my mind. I could barely concentrate. I kept wondering what else this guy was up to. Just flowers were excellent psychological torture but that didn't seem to be his style. His style was blood and pain and begging for mercy. I didn't even get hayfever.

"Struggling?" I pulled out another book, glanced through the gap it made and pretended to read the blurb.

"I swear if you even look like you're talking to me, I will find some way to disembowel you," I murmured, smiling sweetly. There was a small chuckle on the other side of the bookcase.

"I hear your attacker hasn't quite disappeared into the woodwork." I forced the book back into place, running my finger along the spines, leaning closer in an apparent attempt to see their titles better.

"What, does Yuri have you on speed-dial now? The Ootori hotline for all Katya's problems?" I hissed. Kyoya tilted his head, carefully selecting a tome.

"Nonsense," he said, turning the book over. "It merely came up in conversation." The book under my finger actually sounded quite interesting. I slid it out of place, read the first page and tucked in under my arm. I turned back towards the front desk.

"Best pals, are you?" He emerged from his aisle and waited in line behind me.

"I'm helping him with his medical school application." I almost dropped the book as I was handing it over to the librarian. Yuri hadn't told me he was applying to medical school. Why wouldn't he tell me something like that? It seemed suspiciously convenient that he and Kyoya would meet and Yuri just happened to accept his help. Then again, I didn't have any clue what Yuri wanted to do with his life. He'd always been slightly quiet about it but he said he wasn't going to work in a bike shop like his dad and he wasn't big enough to do manual work like some of his brothers.

"Since when?" I shot over my shoulder, digging my student identity card out of my blazer pocket.

"Since I saw his grades. They are very impressive." I thought about this. Yuri was smart. Like, really smart. There was no doubt about that but he never publicised it too much. Being a doctor, though unanticipated, would probably be an excellent career path for him. It smarted a little bit that he hadn't told me, though. The librarian handed me my book back with a smile and a nod. I nodded back, sliding it into my bag and retrieving my card.

"You are being careful?"

"Mr Ootori. I didn't know you cared." I smirked as I brushed past him, walking out to a quiet laugh.

* * *

><p>As it happened, I wasn't being careful – I was being careless. After the mornings rush of adrenaline and surviving death, I had completely lost touch with my survival instinct. Honestly, I would have kicked my own ass if there weren't about a million people willing to do it for me.<p>

Namely, the girl who stepped around the corner, standing between me and safety. I jolted to stop and Akemi folded her arms, her wide face bright with anticipation.

"Fuck." I span, fully intending to run but they'd popped up out of nowhere. Tsubame smiled at me. I wondered if she'd ever tried Joker make-up. She could pull it off so well.

"You seem in better spirits this week. Did your holiday make you feel a little less pathetic?" She asked patronisingly.

"Oh, loads," I said, my voice dripping with an equal amount sarcasm as my mind did a mental check of which places they were definitely not allowed to hit. I had enough to deal with without opening my wounds up again. This was already a replacement uniform, the other one being a little too crimson to pass any inspections.

"Where are you going?" She asked nicely.

"To study," I muttered, not meeting her eye and figuring out how to run. They'd caught me between two buildings; there were walls on both sides and minions front and back. I breathed out in exasperation. I didn't need this. Not today. Jai had gone quite far enough without this bitch making my day worse.

"Out here by yourself?"

"That is generally how I study. By myself. Alone. Without anybody else." She didn't take the hint to leave and my back became fast friends with the brick wall, Akemi gripping the front of my shirt. My entire body screamed at me and I swear the only thing keeping me together was the bandages. I could not get beaten up again. I was in too bad a shape to let that happen.

"I know, Hayashi," Tsubame sighed, inspecting her nails.

"Well, I don't. Care to enlighten me?" I said from gritted teeth, standing on the very tips of my toes. My legs began to shake. No weakness my ass, I thought. I had been convinced, before I moved here, that Japanese people should be short, or at least on average shorter than me. It was a stereotype a lot of the other girls around here seemed to live up to. But not this one. Oh, no, Akemi had some sort of giant in her.

"You were talking to the hosts again." I felt the blood drain from me. It had been one goddamn hour ago and I was pretty damn sure we'd been fucking careful. How did this girl get around so fast?

"Oh, come on! I haven't been anywhere near them!" I lied. She was actively ignoring me and I knew what that meant. She didn't know a goddamn thing. She probably suspected, considering my mood change, but she didn't _know_. She had no proof. I caught her eye over Akemi's shoulder and held it. I knew. She knew I knew. I wondered if I had the power to telekinetically explode her brain.

As it turns out, I didn't.

"You just don't know how to follow orders, do you?" Tsubame broke eye contact first. I felt like I'd won something. My brief moment of victory was shatter when she lifted the phone in her hand to tap her chin as she thought. I almost stopped breathing.

"Fukui, wait!" She was enjoying this. I knew from experience and the fact that she was smirking so much I thought her face might split. I kicked against Akemi but her arms were just too long and I was too broken. A healing body was not designed for combat. This, I thought angrily, was a major oversight in our programming and would have to be rectified. My boots didn't do more than ruffle Akemi's yellow skirts and she chortled. She could not have been more infuriating. I wondered if I could just get free. If I could get free, I could maybe take her down. If I could take her down, I could get to Tsubame. And if I could just get to Tsubame before she dialled that number…

"I suppose we could work something out." I let myself relax and my heels bounced off the wall. She wasn't going to kick the Sato's out. Thank god. My relief lasted for about half a second as Akemi's hand pressed hard into my chest. I gasped for air as pain flared along my skin. I swear my eyes were rolling in my heads. They didn't know I was injured but I doubted that would stop them.

"But she still needs to know what she did wrong, don't you think, Akemi?"

"Definitely," the giant girl said. She balled her free hand into a fist. I closed my eyes as she drew back and wondered how many hits it would take to break my face.

"Hey!" I was dropped, suddenly, and I coughed wetly, pressing my hand to my chest. The evil glare on Tsubame's face was magically gone, replaced by wide-eyed innocence and admiration.

"Hitachiin-kun!" She fluttered. I glanced round Akemi.

It had to be him. Of _course _it had to be him. The universe never did things by halves. It was all or nothing when meddling with my life and at that moment, one particular auburn-haired boy was everything. Tsubame practically skipped with glee.

"Can I help you, Hitachiin-kun?" She said with a smile. To everyone's surprise except mine, Kaoru looked at me. There was a pause and then I dropped my eyes. Not from nerves, as it used to be, but… I was ashamed. Ashamed of how I'd handled what I'd done to him. Ashamed of what he was seeing. I was stronger than this, I wanted to shout. A scowl crossed Tsubame's face briefly and she stepped between us but Kaoru was already looking at her, as if I didn't even exist. That hurt almost more than my chest did. Almost.

"What's going on, Fukui?" He said pleasantly.

"We're just playing a game," she replied immediately, "Aren't we?" I was very aware of the phone in her hand once more. I kept my eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

"I said, aren't we, Hayashi-chan?" I wanted to hurl but I forced myself to nod, my face burning with shame. I tried not to breathe too deeply, in a vague effort to keep it together. I heard her walk towards me and stop.

"Why don't you leave us to finish, darling? We're having so much fun. Right, Hayashi-chan?" I nodded again.

"No, no. Tell him yourself." I raised my head and forced myself to look at him.

There is nothing quite so belittling as having someone exercise their complete control over you in front of people you have even the tiniest bit of respect for – except, perhaps, having someone exercise their complete control over you in front of someone you actually like. Tsubame fiddled with her phone and looked at me meaningfully. She knew what this was doing to me. She probably knew every little thought that was flying around my head. She knew exactly what kind of low she had brought me to and she was smacking me over the head with a shovel and forcing me even deeper.

Fuck this school, I decided.

"Heaps of fun," I intoned dully. The expression in his amber eyes was unreadable.

"You see, Hitachiin-kun? I'll tell you all about it later. You're still my favourite, after all." She smiled at him and I groaned just thinking about it. I'd forgotten that she was a customer of the host club. I was willing to bet she went there every day she could, flirting and twirling her hair and batting her eyes at him or Hikaru, revelling in the fact that I wasn't there. She giggled.

I wanted to snap her legs and stab her in the eye with splintered bits of femur.

Instead, I settled for glaring at the ground, listening to him walk away. I sank into slight misery. I deserved that. I deserved every step he took in the opposite direction because hadn't I done the exact same thing? I could have fought for him. I could have called Tsubame's bluff. I could have, I knew, but I also knew I would never take that chance. My one weakness, I thought with a humourless smile – other people's problems. I was never going to learn. Inevitably, I was yanked to my feet and pushed back into the wall, sending fire along my chest. Tsubame smiled sweetly as Akemi stepped back.

"Well, that was exciting, wasn't it?" She seemed aglow with pride that he'd even talked to her. Now, though, the moment was gone and I was back on the menu. I was getting so very tired of being on the menu. I was humiliated, in searing pain and suddenly completely not in the mood. She was ruining everything I had and it was really starting to take me past caring. I was angry. No. I was _furious_.

I dodged her hand almost automatically and grabbed her wrist, propelling her knuckles into the wall. She yelped in pain as it connected with the brick instead of the soft flesh of my face. It was a dumb yet oh-so satisfying move. However, Tsubame had never been one for forgive and forget. She grabbed my collar as I hesitated on my advantage and pulled me close to her face, so angry she'd forgotten all about the Sato's and was focused only on me. I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. I just wanted this over. She could beat me until I bled and I swore then I would end this. Somehow.

"You're going to regret that," she hissed, balling one fist. I managed to shrug, grinning.

"I already kind of do. I've made you do your own dirty work. That's gotta be a new low for you."

The first blow was weak, barely leaving a sting on my cheek. The second caught me square in the eye – that had only just healed, for hell's sake – and my head snapped back painfully. The third was a pure lucky shot at the cut Jai had gifted me and that one hurt like a bitch. My yelp alerted her to pain and she narrowed her eyes, a nasty smile on her face. I shut my eyes and steeled myself for a world of hurt.

It never came.


	20. Footsteps Of A Stranger

Chapter Twenty

Footsteps Of A Stranger

I was completely disorientated. I thought I was falling. I wondered if my body had just completely given up but I became acutely aware of something very close to my face. I opened my eyes and squinted at the pale blue in front of me. It was breathing and a heartbeat hammered under my hand. My brain, startled, refused to switch back on to compute this new data.

"Hi-Hitachiin-kun?" I furiously blinked, the stubborn dark parts of my mind whirring into motion. No, I wasn't crazy. This was actually happening. Kaoru had pulled Tsubame off me and stopped me from gracelessly falling on my ass. He held me close, his eyes steel as he looked back at Tsubame. I stared up at him and my heart started to flutter. I quickly and metaphorically stomped on it.

This was bad. This was really, really bad.

"Get off," I muttered. He completely ignored me. I rolled my eyes at his stubbornness. I pushed against him as hard as my burning chest would allow and he let go. I stumbled momentarily before catching my balance, knocking his hand away. He gave me a look and I almost relented and grabbed his hand back. I truly was losing it.

"I am fine," I forced out. I wasn't. Breathing was distinctly painful. Christ, I hurt like a bitch.

"See?" Tsubame laughed nervously but her eyes were like pools of acid burning in her face. I knew this had to stop and soon, or she was going to remember the phone clenched in her fist. I couldn't let that happen.

"Go away. This doesn't concern you." Kaoru glanced at me. He gave a half smile, linking his hands and stretching his hands above his head.

"Sure about that?" I stared straight ahead and hardened my expression to stop myself smirking. In the corner of my eye, I could see the dangerous spark in his eyes and marvelled at how even furious he could be so goddamn sexy. Shaking myself mentally, I briefly wondered how deadly the Hitachiin brothers really were. I'd never thought about it before. Perhaps all the hosts could kick ass at will – Kaoru definitely looked angry enough. This faux-relaxed demeanour was just him all over. It was like he was trying to taunt her. I glanced at him again. He was definitely taunting _me_.

"She's right, Hitachiin-kun. This is a private matter." Tsubame's grandeur was returning, her lips curving into a smile. "We have an understanding, Hayashi-chan and I." Understanding, my ass. I was being pulled in two directions. On the one hand, I wanted to crawl back to Tsubame and beg her not to deliver punishment onto the family that treated me as an extra child. On the other hand, I wanted to stay exactly where I was, next to Kaoru, and proceed to beat the absolute living daylights out of her.

The choice was made for me.

"Does this understanding perhaps involve the apartment block you own, Fukui?" There was a moment of silence as everyone looked around – except Kaoru, who kept his eyes narrowed at my tormentor. He'd appeared from nowhere, standing among Tsubame's crew of onlookers, not even deigning to look at her. His expression was dark. An angry Tamaki looked bizarrely terrifying.

"I don't know what you mean," Tsubame said sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes at the king of hosts, but I could see her nerves starting to flare. This wasn't going to plan for her, I thought with malice. But then again, it wasn't exactly going well for me either.

Tamaki gestured to seemingly no one. Tsubame jumped as Kyoya gave a small cough and pushed his glasses up his nose, standing very close behind her.

"According to my research, Hayashi Katya has been residing in apartment blocks owned by the Fukui family for the last four months. As the owner, your family has reserved the right to evict tenants at your own convenience. Due to the lower class status of the inhabitants such as the Sato family, eviction would be damning." It was so lovely to hear your problems put into words.

Not.

"You all know," I murmured.

"We do," Hikaru said from where he leant against the wall. I took a wobbly step backwards. _Idiots._

"Then, with all the respect in the world, go the fuck away." Kaoru looked at me, his face unreadable. How could they understand the situation yet so not understand the situation? His arm around my shoulders stopped me from going everywhere. Haruhi stepped up to my right and gave me a wry grin.

"Think of it as repaying the favour," she said simply.

"No, it's more like moving into a cardboard box," I moaned. Tamaki sighed and pointed dramatically at Tsubame.

"You no longer have any hold over Hayahsi Katya. You are hereby banned from the Host Club." Her eyes grew round as saucers and all the colour drained from her face.

"You… you can't do that!" She protested. "I'm a paying customer! And I have done nothing wrong!"

"You messed with one of us." She span around to face Honey, whose usual smiling face was hard. "That's not a very nice thing to do." She stumbled back a couple of steps and bumped into Mori, who said absolutely nothing. She squeaked and looked at Akemi, who was slowly slinking along the wall to the exit. She wasn't the only one. The crowd of watchers had noticeably thinned since the hosts had arrived and those that were left wouldn't look at Tsubame. Her eyes grew wide as she realised – she was being abandoned. I saw desperation set in as her reputation began to crumble around her and her eyes zeroed in on Karou's arm around me.

"No! You can't chose_ her _over _me_!" She shouted. "My parents… it was… you're supposed to be with me! You _have_ to!" The hosts exchanged a glance that very clearly said she was completely crazy. I tried not to giggle. Tsubame couldn't miss the look and it sent her off into the deep end. She pointed wildly at me and I shrank back out of habit.

"I could have her and her pathetic friends on the streets in minutes!" She shrieked, losing all composure. Tsubame really didn't like being shown up, I realised, and as much as I was enjoying her agony, this was getting dangerous. I tried to escape Kaoru's grasp, which was much more difficult than I had anticipated.

"Okay, guys, fun's over," I said, pushing at the suddenly and infuriatingly immobile twin.

"Don't be silly," Hikaru said quietly, grinning. "This is brilliant."

"You're not helping!" I hissed and Kaoru tightened his arm around me. I smacked him lightly, exasperated. I was used to doing things by myself. If I'd had help, it was help holding people up or knocking people down. I'd never really fought alongside anyone who was… more qualified to handle the situation. I was started to feel less afraid. Kill me now, I was starting to feel _safe_.

"I'll do it!" Her voice was high and quivering as she raised the phone, her hand over the call button.

"Don't you dare!" I yelled suddenly, lunging forwards. It took her by surprise and she squeaked, dropping the phone. I never got much further, because Kaoru and Haruhi grabbed my arms and held me back. I swore as she backed up a few steps.

"Katya!" Haruhi said, pulling me backwards. Tsubame sniffed and began to glare.

"I don't care what friends you've made, Hayashi," she spat. "You've gone too far. I told you what would happen. And now it will." My blood ran cold and I felt Kaoru's grip on my arm tighten, as if he could read the slightly psychotic and sadistic ideas suddenly flying through my mind.

"Actually, it won't." All eyes turned to him as Kyoya stepped forwards, eyes on his phone.

"It won't?" I asked, confused.

"As of right now, all of the Fukui family properties were bought out by a much larger company. They no longer hold any sway over the tenants or landlords and will have no further involvement with the running of these buildings from here on."

My brain immediately died. I stared at him uncomprehendingly, not noticing when the others let go of me. I couldn't take it in. It just seemed too convenient. It made more sense to me that Kyoya was stalling until something else happened but I couldn't think of what else they could be waiting for. These things didn't happen overnight, for hell's sake. We'd have heard about it if someone was trying to buy our apartment block. It was impossible.

"That's-that's impossible!" Tsubame cried, completely agreeing with me. "You're lying!"

"Actually, I'm not." The shadow king smiled. "The proceedings started an hour ago. I just got confirmation that the Ootori bid was accepted." Holy shit.

_Holy shit._

"No…" She stumbled backwards, her wide eyes flicking between us all. Her eyes began to fill with tears as the host's dark expressions registered. There was no way she could get out of this one and she knew it. Her turning tail and running was one of the best things I had seen in a very, very long time.

My legs gave way and I crumpled to the ground, staring after her. My heart was beating in my ears as I tried to take it in. I was free. I was free of Tsubame. I wouldn't have to take any more shit from her. The Sato family's future didn't fall to me to decide. They were all perfectly safe and that was it. My brain didn't know how to handle this. It didn't know how to handle complete relief. It wasn't that a weight had been lifted – it was like that weight had been filled with dynamite and blown into a thousand pieces. A hand on my shoulder shook me back to the present with a wince.

"Hey. Are you okay?" Kaoru asked, crouching in front of me.

"You bought out her company," I said slowly.

"We were going to tell you later, but Kaoru-chan said you were in trouble," Honey said, bouncing up to me with a happy grin. Kaoru went slightly pink and his gaze fell to my chest. His eyes widened as he peeled my blazer aside.

"Holy crap, are you bleeding?" His fingers came away red. I was, in fact, bleeding. And quite a lot.

"You bought out her entire family's company on a whim," I repeated. Kyoya leant over and gave me a cursory glance.

"You've broken your stitches," he said disapprovingly. Everyone else stared at him as he took in my bloodied state and calmly went back to his phone.

"Stitches?" Haruhi asked me, her eyes wide. I glanced down at my chest. Crimson had soaked into my shirt and was slowly spreading. I pressed my hand to my chest with a dull hiss, trying to stop the bleeding as my brain still caught up.

"I think she's broken," Hikaru said, poking my head. I swatted at his hand.

"And it wasn't a whim." I looked up at Kyoya. "Though I don't suppose you understand the ins-and-outs of business, it so happened that my family was in prime position to hold some more residential areas and the Fukui family were a very good choice for various reasons." I blinked at him. He sighed.

"I don't do anything on a '_whim_'," he elaborated. I smirked.

"No, I bet you don't." I pushed myself to my feet and staggered sideways. Kaoru caught me before I became reacquainted with the ground.

"Definitely broken," Hikaru said, shaking his head with a smirk. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Maybe we should take her to the doctor!" Honey said, wide-eyed. I shook my head.

"I'm fine," I said, convincing no one.

"You are _bleeding_," Kaoru exclaimed. "That's not fine!" I shrugged and then decided that wasn't a good idea. Moving began to hurt. I put my hand on my chest. My hand was already covered in blood and I knew that particular wound was a little too deep to leave open indefinitely. I felt giddy. I don't think adrenaline and heavy bleeding went together.

"Okay, maybe I'm not too fine," I admitted, swaying as I took a step. Tamaki snapped his fingers. In a flash, I was no longer standing, making my way back to school a few feet off the ground. I glared up at Kaoru.

"What are you doing?" I demanded. Honey watched me from Mori's shoulders, his big eyes filled with worry. Hikaru and Haruhi giggled as I fought back.

"Never let it be said that the Host Club left a damsel in distress!" Tamaki cried, dancing along beside us.

"I'm not distressed…"

"It would be a stain upon our honour to leave a princess in such pain!"

"…and I don't do damsel…"

"Stay still," Kaoru told me with a grin as Tamaki kept going, striking poses as we walked. "We're taking you to the doctor, seeing as you can't go yourself."

"I can totally go myself. I think you just like playing the hero," I muttered, wriggling. He shrugged.

"Someone has to."

"Hey, I can handle-"

"Shut up," he said, smiling. I wanted to protest but my brain suddenly decided I shouldn't, making me very aware of his arms around me. Instead I smiled and for once, did as he asked.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: <strong>Enecs<strong> called it. **They get a Point!** Fortunately - or unfortunately if you hate this story - this is not the end of this. I have more I can do. So much more. So, if you wouldn't mind that happening, let me know. I'll probably end up writing it anyway but I don't want to outstay my welcome!_

_(Please note, points cannot be used anywhere at all, are utterly worthless and only give the bearer the right to have one question answered., if used at all.)_


	21. One Of Us! One Of Us!

Chapter Twenty One

One Of Us! One Of Us!

"Come on! Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Still no, Honey, and would you please take your customers back to your table so I can do my job?" Honey's eyes widened until they glistened with tears and he scuffed his toe on the floor, the very picture of adorable misery. I ignored him, putting my boots up on the table and scrolling through the music on my phone. I could see Mori watching from a distance, debating whether to interfere. The girls surrounding Honey gave me an evil look. How _dare_ I upset their adorable host?

"I'll come with you, Honey-kun!" One girl said quickly, in an attempt to placate him. It didn't work and he kept staring at me, hoping to make me give in. I raised an eyebrow and put my headphones back in, playing music just quiet enough to hear what was going on but loud enough to give me an excuse not to.

"Look, Honey-kun, I made you a cake!" Another said, producing said treat from somewhere about her person. His face lit up and they went back to his table in a cloud of excitement, with only a half begging glance in my direction. I sighed and rocked back on my chair, tapping my fingers on my knee. The host club was as quiet and drama-free as it had ever been – it seemed like _I_ was the most drama they'd had since last year's Tamaki-leaving catastrophe that had been briefly mentioned. In fact, the last week had been so quiet that I was starting to suspect the universe had forgotten about me. I wouldn't mind that, but it just seemed incredibly unlikely.

I had become, however, an official member of the host club, in a way. I was still the security and I was still completely confused on a regular basis but somehow I was part of the group. Tamaki wasn't entirely pleased, as he couldn't figure out where in this weird family of his I fell, but seemed delighted at my friendship with Haruhi. I was actually spending quite a bit of time with her. I think our initial misunderstanding of pretty much everything Ouran bonded us in a way that none of the others quite understood. She was tutoring me in Japanese, for which I visited her house, and her father had taken a liking to me. Apparently he enjoyed the fact I could probably beat up his future son-in-law.

Kaoru caught my eye and grinned across the room as Hikaru span some elaborate tale that would, inevitably, end up showcasing their closeness. I refused to go pink and smiled back. That one in particular was driving me crazy. We hadn't really spoken about… well, _anything_ that mattered. It was hard to find any time when he was alone and even then, it was unlikely I'd be around. As much as I'd started to find a place to fit in, I still slunk back to my little poverty stricken apartment block every night to drive Yuri insane.

Speaking of Yuri, he was mad at me again. All the Sato family were absolutely furious. It was something to do with taking their troubles onto my shoulders and I shouldn't have dealt with that because of them and blah blah blah. Mrs Sato kept alternating between wanting to hit me with a spoon and folding me into those great big hugs of hers. I was under orders that if _anyone_ tried anything like Tsubame's little trick again, I was to tell them and apparently Yuri's five older brothers – yes, five – would sort it out for me. I wasn't going to say no to that, especially if they all resembled Daisuke. I wasn't too worried. The only trouble I'd had with Tsubame recently were evil glances from afar. It was only a matter of time before she started her campaign of vengeance but this time.

This time, I thought, grinning wickedly.

"Well, that's a kind of a terrifying expression," Hikaru commented, knocking one of my headphones out. I rolled my eyes.

"What're you thinking about?" Kaoru asked, leaning on the back of my chair.

"Cold revenge," I said lightly, sliding my phone back into my pocket. "Is the session over already?" They shrugged as one.

"For us," they said.

"Haruhi's stretching the last customer out a bit," Hikaru said, pushing my feet off the table to sit down.

"She doesn't like karaoke," Kaoru told me. I made a face. I knew why – Haruhi could not sing. At all. She was tone-deaf and completely blank-faced. For saying she was dating someone with such musical talent, I was unpleasantly surprised to discover this. Some people were made to perform; Haruhi was definitely made to watch.

"So why is she going?"

"Tamaki asked her to," Hikaru explained. Ah, yes. That old trick. It seemed to work on Haruhi almost every time, unless his idea was completely and utterly ridiculous, at which point she would shoot him down with no hesitation. It was one of the reasons I really like Haruhi. She was brutally honest. I picked up my bag without looking, accidentally dumping my things on the floor.

"Smooth," I muttered, bending down to shove it back in. The twins helped, collecting the pens and pencils that had rolled to escape.

"What's this?" I looked up and my mouth went dry.

"Oh. That." I took the slightly dying flower from Kaoru and stared at it. I thought I'd been so lucky this morning when there hadn't been a rose delivered. How the hell did that get in my bag? Had I walked past someone without realising? I thought I had learnt all the members. What if they'd got into the apartment? I felt colder. They couldn't be doing that. The Ootori landlords had redone the front door with new locks and a keypad and even I messed up getting in sometimes. This made ten flowers, one for each day since I'd got home. Was he never going to leave me alone?

Hikaru coughed slightly and I landed back in reality.

"Just a weird guy I know," I said with a shrug, snapping it in half. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. My slight horror must have shown on my face because Kaoru's expression more closely resembled worry than curiosity.

If I ever got the chance, I was going to kick Jai so hard in the balls he'd be spitting semen for a month.

"You okay?" I smiled at him, trying to diffuse the situation, and replace the last few things in my bag.

"Of course I am," I assured him. "Why wouldn't I be?" He folded his arms, looking thoughtful.

"What about your injuries?" My hand rose to my chest automatically.

"They're fine. They're healing faster than I thought they would," I said, completely honestly. What I wasn't honestly about was how I'd got them. Falling through a window was one of the oldest excuses in the book but I'd learnt a long time ago that simple but detailed lies, repeated perfectly often enough, tended to be believed. I didn't want any of these guys involved with Jai. This wasn't a problem money or status could fix. This one I was sorting out by myself.

"Really?" His fingers tingled on the back of my hand. I looked up at him and he pulled his hand away, as if surprised it was there at all. I let my hand drop to my side. These moments were what was driving me insane and giving Yuri much more fodder for the mockery cannon. He grinned almost sheepishly and I bit my lip, looking anywhere but him.

"Almost," I heard Hikaru mutter, his eyes on Haruhi. The other hosts were tensed. I frowned. What were they doing?

They were waiting until Haruhi's last customer had graciously taken her leave. In an instant, they pounced on her before she could run, inducing yells of protest from the pile. I smirked from my chair as she sulked, caught in Tamaki's loving arms.

"To the karaoke bar!" He said happily.

"Kat-chan, are you coming yet?" Honey said, leaning over Mori's head to stare at me.

"For the hundredth, Honey, no, I am not." I swung my bag onto my shoulder. The twins looked at me.

"Why not?" Tamaki asked, shocked.

"I don't do karaoke," I said shortly.

"Nor do I," Haruhi said, glaring. The hosts were expertly ignoring the slightly chilling look on her face as they lead her towards the door, chatting over her head.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Hikaru said, darting in front of me before I could leave. I shook my head, trying to get around him. Honey appeared in my way, staring adorably at me over Usa-chan's head. He should, logically, have been impossible to resist. I'd always been particularly good with kids, which may surprise everyone I knew, and I had a weak spot that Suzu exploited on an almost daily basis. Honey, though, I was finding very easy to resist. It probably had something to do with the fact he beat the ever-loving shite out of me.

"Please, Kat-chan!" He begged.

"Honey, no matter how big you make your eyes, I am still going to say no," I groaned. The twins grinned, exchanging a glance, and I suddenly felt like I should have said nothing at all. There was a particular look that those two got when they were feeling distinctly mischievous and it never boded well for anyone but themselves.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really," I retorted.

"What about how big Kaoru makes his eyes?" He teased. I opened my mouth to make a hopefully snappy comeback but was span around. Kaoru caught my chin and locked eyes with mine.

"Please," he murmured. I tried to reply but all I did was go pink and open and close my mouth like a moron. His amber eyes shone like stars and my heart started up its own jazz band, bashing around my ribcage.

I also may have melted.

"You guys are assholes," I muttered, embarrassed, turning away and storming towards the door. Hikaru cracked up and Kaoru grinned, rubbing the back of his neck as if suddenly self-conscious. Honey ran ahead of me, arms spread like an aeroplane, chanting 'Kat-chan's coming!' over and over again until Mori told him calmly to save his voice. I fell into step next to Haruhi, folding my arms.

And I had mocked her for exactly the same thing.


	22. The Song Bird

Chapter Twenty Two

The Song Bird

It shouldn't have surprised me that the hosts could sing. They were all multi-talented, confident and out-spoken, the very kind of people you would expect to get up on stage. Haruhi nursed a drink as she clapped along, determined not to go anywhere near the microphone. I sat next to her in the corner as they sang, hiding behind a book and slowly turning red.

"Aren't you getting up, Kat-chan?" Honey asked me, standing on the couch with glowing eyes as he watched Tamaki perform a slightly off-key love song that had Haruhi wide-eyed and completely silent.

"No," I muttered, retreating further into myself.

Let me tell you something new about myself. My love of music is a given and a well-known fact to anyone close to me. Music could push me to tears, make me laugh out loud, make me want to spin and dance and fly. Music could make a bad day good, a boring day dramatic and a rainy day simply atmospheric. What is generally unknown about me is the fact that as soon as a boy opens his mouth to sing, I get shivers down my spine and melt into a puddle of human gloop on the floor – it didn't even matter if I was attracted to them. Back in England, after my rehabilitation program was over, I'd secretly joined an amateur dramatics society and one of the main reasons was this one. There was something about a boy that could sing that just set my heart on fire.

"Why not?" I looked at Haruhi, who grinned back. Ever since they had allowed her not to sing, she'd perked up and was busy pestering me. I had almost preferred it

"Because," I said moodily, pretending to read. Tamaki and Honey swapped places and a slightly more energetic tune started up. Kyoya looked up from his laptop and eyed me.

"Can you not sing, Katya?" He asked. I narrowed my eyes at him and wondered if Yuri had been running his mouth to his new friend again. I needed to have a serious talk with that boy.

"That is neither here nor there," I said defensively. That got a raised eyebrow from the shadow king. I ignored him and he turned to talk to the twins, who were busy eating the rather fancy-looking snacks that had been brought into the room. Tamaki pulled Haruhi towards him and she blushed as they sat together on the other sofa, talking quietly. When they'd said karaoke bar, I'd rather imagined a pub with a microphone and an old DVD with lyrics written in comic sans. Not this, this private room and delivered food. This was a whole different level of karaoke and it completely ruined my reason for disliking karaoke in the first place. Where were the shit drunkards for me to despise? Where were the arrogant tone-deaf singers, convinced they're the next big star?

How was I supposed to hate karaoke when they'd completely got rid of all my excuses for doing so?

"Kaoru-chan! Hikaru-chan! Your turn!" Honey bounded back to sit next to Mori and pull his cake towards him. I sank down in defeat.

They huddled, choosing a song, before picking up the mics. _It's just a song,_ I told myself, turning a page. Music started playing and they high-fived with unsurprising amount of energy. I glanced up as it started, which was the worst thing I could have done, because Kaoru tipped me a wink and began to sing. All my hairs stood on end. He was good. Effortlessly good. Good enough for me to forget I was holding my book and forget I was surrounded by people. I realised I was staring.

I felt really hot and swallowed, trying not to watch. The song seemed to go forever and the more he sang, the more I fell into some deep dark pool of no return. I wished I knew what the song was about but though my Japanese was good, it wasn't understanding-lyrics good. I hoped it was about some dark and evil and completely unromantic but his face as his amber eyes burned told me it wasn't.

It wasn't at _all_.

I almost didn't want it to end and when it did, I was torn between relief and abstract misery. I put my feet up on the seat and propped my book on my knees, hiding my face from view. My heart was beating wildly. Why, of all the talents he could possess, did he have to sing?

"Good, huh?" It took me a while to realise Hikaru had been sitting next to me the whole time.

"What?" I said stupidly. He linked his hands behind his head and gave me a grin. I gave him evils in return, as was entirely appropriate. Kaoru collapsed onto the sofa on the other side of me.

"What happened, Hikaru?"

"I thought I'd give you this one," his twin shrugged. Kaoru shot him a confused glance before poking me.

"Surely it's your turn soon," he said as Tamaki got up again, taking the stage dramatically. I shook my head. Hikaru poked me from the other side.

"Why not? Can't you sing?" He asked.

"I can!" I defended myself automatically and then bit my lip. They moved to sit on the table in front of me and Kaoru confiscated my book with those annoying quick hands of his. I tried to take it back but it was impossible as always. Not impressed, the twins tilted their heads, waiting for my explanation. I twisted my hands in my lap.

"I'm not… good enough," I admitted.

"At singing?" Kaoru asked.

"At Japanese!" I exclaimed, collapsing back into my seat. "It's so frustrating! I can hold a conversation just fine but every time I listen to your songs I just…" I ran m hand through my hair. "I just can't grasp it. And if I try to sing in Japanese, I sound like I don't know what the hell I'm saying. Because I _don't_ know what the hell I'm saying!" They stared at me.

"This actually annoys you," Hikaru said slowly.

"Of course it annoys me!"

"Which means she's tried it," he continued, talking to Kaoru and disregarding me completely.

"Which means she does it often," the other muttered. "And in that little apartment too."

"Which means no one tells her stop."

"Which means…" They turned to me, their eyes sparking dangerously. "You're good at it." I snatched my book back and opened it again, firmly ignoring them. I was already regretting this and I was immediately poked.

"Sing for us."

"No."

"Please?" Hikaru said.

"I said no," I growled. He looked at Kaoru, who moved slightly. I levelled my darkest stare at him.

"You try that stunt you pulled early and you will lose teeth," I threatened, though emptily. He paused, staring at me. I opened my book. It was incredibly hard to concentrate with those eyes fixed on you, filled with such hope and disappointment.

"Stop looking at me like that," I snapped. Hikaru was starting to giggle. Kaoru smiled at me.

"Like what?" He asked innocently.

"You know exactly like what," I said grumpily. Honey appeared between them.

"What's going on?" He asked happily through a mouth full of cake.

"Katya can sing," Hikaru informed him. Honey's face lit up like it was his birthday and he'd gotten a year's supply of cake in a day.

"You have no evidence to back up that statement and therefore I reject your hypothesis," I stated. Hikaru rolled his eyes at me. Kaoru put his hand on my knee and my neck burned. I swear my blood was just boiling hot today by default. It simply wasn't fair.

"Come on, Katya. You can sing an English song! We don't mind."

"Forget it, Kaoru," I told him, very sorry I'd said anything.

"Hey, what's a backing track?" Hikaru asked. I looked around, felt in my pockets for my phone and lunged at him.

"How the hell did you get that?!" He held it out of my reach and Kaoru pulled me back to the sofa, laughing. Hikaru scrolled through it as I fumed silently. It took me a minute of anger to realise I was pressed up against Kaoru and his arm still lay casually around my waist. I shot to my feet without thinking, my face burning.

"Okay!" Suddenly in front of me, Tamaki pressed the mic into my hands.

"Wait, what?!" I'd obviously accidentally volunteered. Hikaru took my place next to Kaoru, showing him my phone screen. They nodded sagely, even though I knew they had no idea what the songs where, and kept looking at me evilly. Had Kaoru done that one purpose? I never knew with those two. No wonder I was going nuts. I dug my heels in as Tamaki and Honey pushed me onto the stage.

"Wait, I can't-"

"They have English songs on the machine, Kat-chan!" Honey said happily. I threw up my hands in defeat.

"Fine. Fine! One song! And then-" I pointed threateningly at the twins. "You two will leave me the hell alone." They spread their hands.

"Hai, hai," they said together, leaning back and grinning at me.

"I hate everyone," I muttered, looking at the screen. Even Kyoya had momentarily closed his laptop. The song choices were eclectic and annoying but eventually I managed to find what I hoped was an Adele song and pressed my finger against the touch screen. I relaxed as the familiar introduction played and, closing my eyes to control the sudden shaking of my legs, prepared to sing. It was a big song. I wasn't too worried.

Something odd always happened to me when I opened my mouth. One second, I was slightly sarcastic, reluctant and almost unlikable. When I started to sing, I was different. There was a buzz and it was almost like a drug that I couldn't escape from and it turned me into this… this… upper class, clear voiced, confident person. I didn't see if I could hit notes – I knew I could. I loved the feeling of the vibration rising from deep within me and filling my chest. I loved to push it and hear my voice filling a room, bouncing back off the walls until there was just me and the music, and I never realised I was acting during a song until someone pointed it out. I was always the loud one in the Home but they'd always said they didn't mind. Yuri thought he was so sneaky when he watched me from the kitchen but I knew. I could always tell but I didn't mind when I was singing.

I still kept my eyes closed.

The last note almost echoed and it got very, very quiet. I opened my eyes, replaced the mic and flumped back down onto the sofa.

"There. Happy?" I opened my book with a snap. When nobody said anything, I looked up at them all.

"What?"

"We knew you'd be good," Kaoru started slowly.

"But not _that_ good," Hikaru said, folding his arms and starting to sulk. "Who can follow that?"

"Well, surprise!" I said half-heartedly. It seems this particular talent had indeed taken them completely by surprise. It wasn't unexpected – I didn't exactly shout about it. One reason I hated karaoke was because I didn't like making a big deal out of it. In a very '_I like to sing but please stop staring at me while I do so_' kind of way.

"He wasn't lying," I heard Kyoya murmur and made a mental note to strangle Yuri later.

"That was amazing," Honey said, staring at me with big eyes over the table. I sighed, putting my book down.

"I'm getting a drink," I muttered. Tamaki stood up to try his best as I left the room, mainly to avoid the suddenly intense gaze of a certain pair of amber eyes.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: I'm not too happy with how this chapter turned out. It says all the right things but I just think I wrote the scene wrong or something... I just don't know. Anyway, I gave up trying to find the key to writing this scene and figured that one of the few things that can't be written well is song. So you'll have to make do with this last rather mediocre chapter today. I apologise. <em>

_More to come soon, maybe Friday; if not, this weekend._


	23. Bright Copper Kettles

Chapter Twenty Three

Bright Copper Kettles

My money clattered down the length of the vending machine and fell out again. I sighed, picking up the rejected coins and rubbing them on my jumper. I was inwardly cringing at myself – as a rule, I never sang solo. I lurked in the background and cheered them on. Why had I let myself do that? I shoved the coin into the slot with more force than entirely necessary. I knew why. I knew _exactly_ why.

I didn't mean I agreed with myself.

My chosen can whirred to the front of the machine. I stared at it, narrowing my eyes as it teetered for a second and then fell against the glass, stuck. I punched the machine. It wobbled slightly.

"Fucking machine with your stupid design," I muttered, trying to figure out how to get it out without sacrificing more money. I groaned, leaning on the cold glass. Logically, I should be the happiest I'd been in a long time. Unfortunately, I didn't adhere to any kind of known logic. I probably broke the conservation of energy law while I was at it. Nothing I was feeling made any sense. It was like a storm of emotions was kicking the shit out of my heart until they all blended together into an average of weary. My dreams were now alternating between absolute terror and a particular moment of blissful happiness. Thinking about it made me flush and I banged my head on the glass lightly. I was pretty sure I was a total idiot.

"You kick it." I glanced up. Kaoru pointed from where he leant on the wall. Dutifully, I kicked the bottom left corner and my can spiralled to the bottom. I retrieved it and stood up, throwing it in the air and catching it again.

"Huh. Thanks," I said with a smile. The best way forwards, I thought, was to act like absolutely nothing was wrong. I didn't know what game this guy was playing. I didn't know if what he was doing meant something or it was just host tricks. For all I know, he was going to forever tease me mercilessly for all time as revenge for my little disappearing stunt and honestly, if I was in his place?

That's what I would have done.

"You never said you could sing," he commented. I tried to open the can. It was at times like this when I wished I had nails.

"Nobody ever asked. It's not a big deal," I said, glaring at the can as it resisted my efforts. He made a face that made it obvious he didn't agree with me.

"So let me get this straight," Kaoru said, looking at me like I was weird. "You hate karaoke but you can sing? How does that work?" I sighed and looked at the ceiling.

"Stage fright," I admitted reluctantly.

"Stage fright? You?"

"Yes, me!" I snapped. "I don't want to have a load of people staring at me! I get all nervous and I start shaking and it's… not fun," I finished lamely. My stage fright was as embarrassing as my continuing emotional confusion. It only went away if I did things with my eyes shut and that was just not acceptable on any stage ever. I turned away, tucking my hair behind my ear, and decided to just shut the hell up. Warmth closed over my hand and I turned to face him, surprised.

"I'm sorry," he told me softly, running his thumb over the back of my hand. "It wasn't fair of us to push you." My skin caught fire. I wondered if stop, drop and roll would realistically work here. I didn't know if I was happy about this. I didn't understand this guy at _all_.

"Don't worry about it," I said with a forced grin and extracted my hand to step away, slipping my can into my pocket. If I stayed any longer, I was going to explode and I wasn't sure if it was in a good or a bad way.

I was pulling the door open when his hand pushed it heavily shut and kept it that way. I span around to face him.

"We need to talk," Kaoru said, suddenly serious. He was very close to me, so close I could feel the heat that I assumed emanated from whatever was making his eyes smoulder like that. He didn't need their brotherly love routine – he could just give everyone that look and they'd be doing what I was doing, which was figuratively melting into something weird and mushy and vaguely human-shaped. I swallowed and crossed my arms, ignoring the little flip that had just happened inside my chest.

"So talk," I replied mildly, managing to keep my voice from squeaking. Squeaking was not a good thing. I leant against the door, seeing as it was apparently not going to open anytime soon.

"Did I do something wrong?" My mouth fell open. What was he talking about?

"What are you talking about?" I blurted out, having completely lost my brain-to-mouth filter. He rubbed the back of his neck, apparently embarrassed.

"After we… the party… you just disappeared. I figured you were avoiding me."

"Well, I was," I said slowly. His face fell.

"Oh." A light went off in my head. He hadn't put it together. I had thought it would have been obvious but this idiot… he literally thought I was avoiding him because I _wanted to_?

"Kaoru, it wasn't you!" He looked at me, surprised, as I shook my head. "It was nothing to do with you. You were… well, I just… I couldn't stay there. She wouldn't let me. She… I had to think about the others. I couldn't…" I trailed off awkwardly. It was the longest minute of my life as he figured it out. His confusion quickly melted into a dangerous anger that pinned me to the door, convinced now _I'd_ done something wrong.

"Fukui? She was there_?_" I nodded mutely. "That little…" He slammed his other hand into the door, making me jump. He hung his head. "I didn't know."

"I didn't tell you," I said simply. He glared at the ground.

"You should have," he said darkly. "I would have dealt with her a lot earlier than we did." His reaction shouldn't have made me happy but it did. I put a hand on his chest, ducking down to catch his eye.

"As much as I am whole-heartedly behind the Fukui-Tsubame-beating, it would have been a _really_ bad idea." Kaoru looked at me and I felt my mouth go dry again. I wanted to tell myself that there was only so many times you could get lost in the same pair of eyes before you figured out how to navigate but I'd have been lying through my teeth. I felt my heart begin to race. I felt my skin begin to tingle. I was a walking cliché of attraction and nothing my logical side could make me hate it.

"So… you weren't mad at me?" The hope was utterly adorable and I couldn't help myself. I laughed.

"You're a moron," I told him. Ignoring his slightly offended look, I grabbed his shirt to pull him into a kiss.

His initial surprise made me pause and I broke away to check his reaction. He stared at me for a second, his amber eyes wide. A sudden fear ran through me that he'd moved on, that all he was doing was checking I wasn't mad at him – like I would be. I raised my eyebrows in question, chewing on my bottom lip.

Then Kaoru smiled and it was like my whole world lit up.

I didn't realise what was happening until his lips were upon mine and then I forgot everything, our friends, our world, forgot the social constraints and the classes that separated us, forgot all the problems that had been thrown onto my shoulders: all I could think about was him. I felt him pressed against me and his hand was in my hair and my entire being sighed into absolute bliss, my mind for once completely blank. I felt warm; I felt safe. It was everything I'd been – quite literally – dreaming of and a touch better. I smiled into the kiss and he chuckled, leaning his forehead against mine. I sighed happily.

"See? Not mad," I muttered.

"I don't think I'm quite convinced." He caught my chin and kissed me again and I melted just as much the second time around.

This time, we were rudely interrupted by a loud bang and I was thrown forwards into him.

"Ouch!" We both looked at the door as Honey opened it, rubbing his head. "Why was the door…" He faded away, looking from me to Kaoru to the arm around my waist, and his face slowly stretched into the biggest grin he'd ever seen. He took a deep breath and I winced, anticipating the squeal that I usually attributed to shippers. Nobody ever moved as fast as Kaoru did as he swung the door shut and knelt in front of Honey.

"Honey-senpai, don't tell anyone." I stared at him. What? What was he talking about? Honey frowned. I knew he wanted to immediately run back into the room and tell everyone with his usual boundless excitement. Most people would, after finding two people in an unexpected embrace like that. It was the entire basis for numerous books, a lot of them involving murders. There was probably a correlation.

"Why not?" Honey said, swinging between gleefully excited and utterly confused. I was somewhere in the middle. Perhaps he's ashamed, my head whispered. I scratched at the edge of my bandages, banishing that part of my brain to the depths of the void.

"It's just… Hikaru…" I shouldn't have been relieved. I was. Honey's mouth made an 'o'.

"You two have never really dated before," he said, "Except Haruhi."

"Haruhi?" It slipped out in surprise, the off-hand comment knocking me on my ass. Luckily, neither of them really heard me and I swallowed it. They'd dated Haruhi? I knew Hikaru liked her – he made it rather obvious – but the way Honey had said it… _both of them?_

I was immediately appalled at my own mind and went slightly red.

"Let me handle this," Kaoru begged. "Please, Honey-senpai." The littler boy considered, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Fine," he said with a terribly disappointed sigh and then grinned at me. "You'll look after him, Katya?" I grinned back.

"Someone has to," I replied, giving Kaoru a sly look. He rolled his eyes at me. Honey was vibrating with excitement and threw himself at Kaoru with a small squeal, knocking him on his ass. I laughed, leaning against the wall and watching the struggle to escape with amusement. Everything was coming up Katya, I realised. My life was finally shaping into something I was proud to call my own and I was loving it. I felt untouchable. I pulled my can out of my pocket and finally forced my little finger under the opening. With a grin, I popped it open without thinking of the journey it had taken out of the vending machine.

I held the half empty can at a distance, soaking wet and covered in coca cola. The two on the floor looked up at me in shock.

"Comment and die," I growled. Kaoru burst out laughing as the others stuck their heads out of the door to find out what the hell was going on. They commented, with glee.

I managed to get the rest of my coke on each of them, so we called it even.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Some of you should be very happy with this chapter - *cough, cough* Enecs *cough, cough* anna-chan21 *cough* - so there's that. Honestly, I'm surprised this story was as well-received as it has been. I expected it to kind of fade into obscurity - maybe it will now that updates will be slowing down! But there is a plan. Plans are good.<em>

_I'll totally be giving bonus points to anyone who correctly realises how many of my chapter titles are references ;)_


	24. Shoes Upon The Table

Chapter Twenty Four

Shoes Upon The Table

I slipped through the door as quietly as possible and tiptoed towards the kitchen. I was starving and made a beeline for the cupboard where I'd hidden the biscuits. I'd got maybe halfway there when the light flicked on and I cringed away from it, throwing my hands up to cover my eyes.

"Ow!" I moaned. "That is so mean."

"It's almost eleven," Yuri said, standing by the light switch and grinning. "You've been asleep a long time."

"Yes, obviously," I muttered. That was a lie. I had got back to the house ridiculously late – or in fact, early. It turns out there's a really good reason you don't get the hosts started with karaoke. They don't _stop_. I inched my way towards the kitchen sneakily. Eagle-eyed Yuri folded his arms and looked as disapproving as he could.

"You missed breakfast. Stay away from the kitchen." Apparently I wasn't as sneaky as I'd thought.

"But I'm hungry," I whined, ignoring him completely and opening the cupboard. Yuri sighed and sat down, leaning his elbows on the back of the sofa as he watched me.

"Why are you so hungry, anyway? What time did you get in?"

"Late," I said, swearing as I knocked the salt onto the floor. I swept it into a tiny pile on the floor, dubbed it Mount Saltdon and stuck my head back in the cupboard. I was always making a mess. I vowed in my head to tidy it up later but I knew I'd forget. It was full of tins and packets as usual and my secret stash had become buried under the weekly shop.

"How late is late?" Yuri asked, suddenly interested.

"Quite," I replied unhelpfully, lifting a pack of pasta and feeling underneath it.

"And what were you doing until this hour of 'quite'?" Something tickled my hand and I dropped the pasta, squishing the spider automatically. Shuddering, I pushed my hand in deeper until it closed on the round cylinder I was looking for.

"I told you. Karaoke."

"You hate karaoke," he said.

"I know, right?!" I said emphatically, sitting cross-legged in front of the open cupboard and opening my biscuits. I counted – there were only nine left. I picked one out with a shrug and munched on it happily. Yuri looked at me like I'd gone insane.

"You did hear what I just said, right? You _hate_ karaoke," he repeated.

"I know," I said around crumbs.

"You stayed out til stupid-in-the-morning."

"I know that too." I started on my second biscuit. I shouldn't but I was ravenous.

"Tell me how those two things come together." I raised my biscuits above my head.

"Whoa, what's with the interrogation?" I asked with a grin. "Anyone would think I'd broken in and slept in your bed and eaten your biscuits."

"You are eating my biscuits," Yuri said with a sigh. I looked down at them. Huh.

"Oh yeah." I finished the second and decided that wasn't anywhere near enough. My distraction proved my downfall and the pillow smacked me in the face. I made a loud unintelligible protest through a mouthful of biscuit.

"Tell me what you're not telling me," Yuri demanded. I threw the pillow back at him and said absolutely nothing. Not unexpectedly, the offending decoration flew back in my direction. I ducked and it sailed to the corner of the kitchen. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Okay, now I _know_ it's good." He attempted to jump over the back of the sofa. I gave a muffled squeal, grabbed two more biscuits and ran to the safety of my room, slamming the door behind me. He banged on it as I slid the bolt in place.

"Open the door!"

"No!" I said defiantly, choosing which biscuit would be the next sacrifice to the hunger god.

"Come on, Katya!"

"No, because you will tickle me and then I will have to kill you and then your mother will kill me. I am prevented a spiralling story of tragedy that would grip the nation and send the city into a great depression," I said, leaning against the door and eating his chocolate biscuits with glee. After a moment, I heard him sigh.

"You are no fun," he told me through the wood. I shrugged to myself, mouth full, and sank to the floor. I leant my head against the door and smiled. Of course I hadn't got back early. What kind of weird person do you take me for? Karaoke went on for hours but I could have left whenever I wanted to.

It was something about the short glances and the stolen kisses and the state of absolute ecstasy that I had been floating in.

"At least come and deal with this damn rose!" The shout shattered my blissful reverie. I finished my stolen snack and unlocked the door. Yuri was picking up the fallen biscuits.

"Really? You've left four?" I shrugged, moving to the open front door. The rose was taped to the handle, maybe so we couldn't miss it, and I ripped it off with a certain amount of unneeded viciousness. The flowers were getting boring now. I threw number eleven at Yuri, who expertly knocked it away with his face as I closed the door. Chuckling at his rising use of expletives, I retrieved the flower and shredded it into pieces over the bin. I was debating making a game to see how entirely I could destroy them.

"We need more biscuits," I told Yuri absently.

"That's because you've eaten them all," he grumbled.

"I'm female. I have dibs on the chocolate," I explained with a grin, dusting my hands off. Suzu had recently taken to staying with her mother – not out of her own choice, but because of the flowers. If one gang member was getting near our apartment, then we could at least make sure none of them ever got near Suzu again. Interrupting my thoughts, Yuri pushed me towards my room.

"Get dressed. We need to go shopping."

"Not today," I groaned. "Today is Saturday. Saturday is do nothing day. Can't we go tomorrow?" Something inherently adorable and/or annoying about me made him relent.

"Fine. Tomorrow. And you're coming whether you like it or not." I made a face.

"What am I, four?" I asked, resisting for the sake of resisting. Yuri rolled his eyes, giving me one last shove. I paused, considering the last half an hour.

"Good point."

* * *

><p>I glared at the sky as the first raindrop fell, hefting the bag of shopping higher in my arms. Yuri somehow balanced three across his person and he let out a groan.<p>

"It has to rain," he complained, the bags wobbling dangerously.

"Would you rather it snowed, Mr Negative?" He chuckled, shaking his head. I flexed the fingers under the bag – I still didn't understand the efficiency of using paper bags for groceries but our choices were that or conceal everything about our persons. I voted for the biodegradable but easily ripped option. The rain, I knew, would not help matters.

"You're particularly chirpy this weekend, you know," he said inquisitively. I caught a carton of milk as it made a bid for freedom.

"What do you mean? Am I not always the very picture of delight?" I replied innocently. He eyed the bandages that were poking out from under my hoodie. Balancing the shopping, I zipped it up higher self-consciously. I got his point. I wasn't the happiest person on the planet.

"Are you going to tell me why you've suddenly developed a love for karaoke?"

"I have so not developed a love for karaoke," I corrected him before he got any wacky ideas. He grinned.

"So spill. What happened?" I hesitated, wondering if the 'leave it to me' that Kaoru wanted applied to Yuri, who would no doubt let it slip to Kyoya, who would then have us on a leash until Hikaru was pulled into the loop. I hoped Kaoru talked to him soon. I really didn't like this stuff. I debating texting him to ask but he wasn't really much of a texter. Plus I'd got in the habit of leaving my phone in my room, which I really needed to start breaking. Yuri elbowed me, almost dropping everything all over the floor.

"Speak," he said. I sighed and decided to chance it.

"Okay. But I swear if you let this slip to your new best friend I will personally…" I trailed off and we both slowed to a standstill. After a moment, I leant over to Yuri.

"Did we leave the front door open?" I muttered. He shook his head, looking slightly green. The apartment car park was completely silent, as was the porch, but the door itself, with its multiple locks and new systems, was standing wide open. For a minute, the only sound was the steadily increasing patter of raindrops. When my fingers started to sink into the paper, I gritted my teeth.

"We have to go in at some point. If I'm going to get mugged, I would rather it not be in the rain," I told him, taking the lead and slipping inside. I closed the door behind us, hoping it was a problem with the door. The lock caught perfectly and the door became the wall again. We exchanged a glance. Something was not right here. There was always a chance it was someone else's problem but if we were honest, the majority of drama in the block was centred around us. We were just that annoying.

Our fears were confirmed when we reached our landing. My heart crashed back down to the ground floor as we stared at the smashed lock on the apartment.

"Fuck," Yuri breathed, putting down the shopping by the wall. I followed suite and, not waiting for him, burst into the apartment, hoping for the element of surprised.

I was surprised.

"Holy _shit_," I said in English. Yuri poked his head around the door and echoed my sentiment in Japanese.

The apartment was destroyed. The cupboards were torn open and the food thrown around the room. The sofa had been turned over and the cushions ripped open, white stuffing lying like the shittest sprinkling of summer snow ever. Everywhere I looked, something had been broken or destroyed. Even the walls hadn't escaped the fury that had passed through the apartment, with the Sato family picture lying where it had fallen, the glass cracked.

"And you thought I was messy," I joked half-heartedly as we picked our way through the wreckage. Yuri veered towards his room, muttering the word 'no' to himself over and over as his entire world was ripped apart by some unknown force. I peeked into the bathroom as I passed, catching my reflection in the shattered mirror. Even that room hadn't escaped the wrath.

My bedroom was awful. My duvet had cut into pieces and my mattress gutted like hunted game. All my notes and hard worked had been thrown everywhere, all my clothes ripped or sliced and strewn across the floor. My window was shattered and my light bulb smashed and someone had gone to town trying to destroy everything I owned. My uniform, still hanging on my wardrobe door that was now hanging off at an angle, had been slashed into ribbons, tiny and precise in a very focussed demonstration of ferocity. I staggered to my ruined bed and collapsed face down, closing my eyes.

"Katya?"

"Why?" I moaned.

"Whoa," Yuri said as he came in. "This is… thorough."

"I know, right?" I rolled over and stopped. My breath caught in my chest and I wanted to scream. I'd jinxed it. I'd said they were getting boring. It was my own damn fault this had happened and I was so lucky they'd chosen to do it when nobody was in. I sat up slowly, eyes on the ceiling. Yuri followed my gaze and swore under his breath, storming out of my room. The tape gave way and it half fell and half drifted into my lap. I picked it up with a shaking hand.

The twelfth rose was obviously a special delivery.


	25. One Person's Craziness

Chapter Twenty Five

One Person's Craziness

"No, I'm sure, Kaoru," I said into the phone, holding it with my shoulder as I shoved my ruined duvet deeper into the bins. They refused to go in any further and I sighed, resigning myself to climbing onto of them.

"And you won't just tell me what's wrong?" He asked. I jumped from the wall into the giant bins, stomping the fluffy mass down.

"Trust me, you do not want to know," I muttered. "Look, it's not like the other times I've cancelled on you guys. It's just… something's come up that I need to sort out. I'll catch up with you tomorrow." As much as I wanted to meet up with the club that afternoon, the destroyed apartment had other ideas. We couldn't go anywhere until we made it inhabitable again and that basically meant throwing out almost everything in there. I lost my balance and fell back into the wall with a clang.

"Watch yourself," Yuri said, dumping another bag of destruction on the porch.

"Yes, thank you for your brilliant advice," I replied with a roll of my eyes, struggling to my feet.

"You're sure you're alright?" Kaoru asked. I could hear his sighing. "You sound stressed."

"That's not really any different from normal," I said honestly, clambering down the side of the bin. There was a small laugh.

"I'm getting nothing out of you, am I?"

"Have you talked to Hikaru yet?" I steered the conversation in a completely different direction. I picked up the bag in the pause that followed and swung it into the bin. Yuri lobbed another one over my head, bouncing it off the wall into the corner. I discreetly high-fived him, suitably impressed.

"No…" Kaoru said reluctantly. I sighed.

"Kaoru, what exactly do you think is going to happen? He's your brother, for god's sake!"

"He could hate you."

"Well, let that be my problem, not yours," I told him, taking the first ruined cushion from Yuri to dispose of.

"It's not that easy!" Kaoru protested. I shook my head, throwing the cushions one by one to their doom. I didn't really understand the problem that he was happening but then again, I'd never had siblings and I'd definitely never met any as close as the twins. I decided to trust him on this.

"Okay, okay," I placated him. "Just… it's kind of weird, you know. It's got to be weird for you too. Do you guys even have any secrets from each other?"

"Some," he murmured so quietly his voice barely made it out the speaker.

"It'll be okay, Kaoru," I told him. I almost heard him smile.

"Whatever you say," he said softly and I went said slightly red. Yuri made a retching sound and I aimed a half-hearted kick that he easily dodged. He laughed , throwing a handful of fluff at me. I turned to scold him when something out in the car park clattered to ground.

We stood perfectly still. Nothing moved except for the can that rolled across the ground and clanged against the next car. We stared at it and took half a step backwards, ready to bolt inside. I steeled myself for whatever happened next. There was someone there. There was someone behind the white van on the other side of the car park. The shadows of their feet moved ever so slightly under the car and I made a fist with my free hand, glancing at Yuri. He shrugged, unsure as to what to do. I could hear my heartbeat and I narrowed my eyes at the van, listening hard in the silence.

"Katya?" Kaoru's voice made me jump a mile and I swore loudly, my hand on my chest. Yuri looked at me in alarm.

"Christ, Kaoru!" I exclaimed, breathing hard. There was a crashing sound and we looked up to see a figure disappear over a fence. Yuri swore, throwing the last few bags in the vague direction of the bin.

"Let's get out of here, Katya." I nodded in agreement.

"Sorry, Kaoru, I've got to run."

"What just happened?"

"I'll tell you when I see you." Not. "Have fun this evening." I hung after his confused goodbye and glared across the car park. Yuri stood next to me, his arms folded.

"Who do you think that was?" I shrugged.

"Anyone," I sighed. "It doesn't matter who it was. What matters is that they were here. Which means this isn't over yet." I turned away, stabbing in the access code with more force than I should have. He slipped in after me.

"It's weird that they didn't try anything," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"Is it? They've been being weird for way too long now." I punched a wall as I passed, stomping up the stairs. "I'm fed up of this crap. If they want to make our lives' difficult, they can damn well come and do it without these coward's tactics. The next time they mess with us, I swear I'm going to beat them inside out," I muttered. Yuri eyed me.

"I really don't know what more they could think of to do," he said as we pushed open the splintered door to the apartment. It looked very bare without most of the furniture in it. Daisuke waved vaguely at us as he plastered in the deep scores in Yuri's walls. I thought about it as I pulled on one of Yuri's old shirts and picked up a paint brush.

"Well, they've kicked the shit out of you and almost killed me. They've followed us around and made our lives miserable. They've sent flowers and they've destroyed our things. Honestly, there are more imaginative things but I'm not sure Jai's going for creative," I said with a certain amount of amusement.

"I don't know," Yuri said, pushing the skeleton of the sofa against the wall so I could stand on it. "The flowers were kind of a weird touch."

"They didn't seem like his style," I agreed, applying white the recently stripped wall. "Maybe he's branching out." He shuddered, holding the paint bucket up.

"Don't say that. He's terrifying enough as he is." I couldn't really argue with him. The long-sleeved , high-cut shirts I was having to wear even in the increasingly warm weather spoke for themselves. When Jai did things, he did them gleefully and without mercy. I had thought him just a thug but he'd proved me wrong again and again. He was completely fucking ridiculous and I was pretty sure psychologists would have a field day with him. I painted in silence and knew the next few days would be the most deadly of all. There's one thing everyone who ever exacted fear knew.

Anticipation was always worse than the actual event.

"Wh-where shall I put these?" I twisted to look at the tiny girl in the door way. Her face, hidden by gently curling hair, was red, as it had been since she'd arrived. I looked at Yuri, smirking, as he put down the pot of paint and hurried over to relieve her of the box she carried.

"Thank you, Sayuri," he smiled. She gave a small smile, clasping her hands together. Yuri, it seemed, had been holding out on me. His _girlfriend_ Sayuri had turned up only minutes after he'd called to cancel their date, with a box of freshly made cookies and a rather unhealthy dosage of chronic shyness. Yuri assured me the stammer she was exhibiting was only because she was around people she didn't know. Apparently she'd overcome her kind-of-fear of people to come and help Yuri in his time of need – I liked her. I would mock Yuri mercilessly but hopefully I would eventually be able to joke with her without her face turning into a tomato and having to explain that I was kidding. She didn't really understand my sense of humour.

"Do-do you need anything else?" Sayuri said softly. Yuri shook his head, his hand lingering on her arm. I bit back so many, many jokes and focussed on painting on the wall, repeating the phrase 'privacy is to be respected' over and over until it kind of lost meaning. It wasn't unfair for me to tease him, exactly. If he'd have just told me, I wouldn't need to. It was the secretiveness that was just begging to be mocked and mocked mercilessly until I ran out of energy.

"We'll be fine, Sayuri. Why don't you head home?" He said gently. She fiddled with the sleeve of her jumper.

"Are you going to have to sleep here?" Yuri frowned and exchanged a glance with me. We hadn't really thought about it but the fumes of the plaster and the paint would surely not be good for us.

"We'll find somewhere to crash," I suggested. Sayuri ducked her head lower and I couldn't hear what she muttered, the colour of her face reaching new levels of bright.

"No, no, we couldn't," Yuri said, obviously surprised. I forgot about my wall and leaned back trying to listen in. She was speaking so damn quietly that I couldn't hear whatever counter-argument she proposed. In my efforts, I leant too far back and landed on the floor heavily, the paintbrush narrowly missing my face. Yuri completely ignored me. I felt half offended.

"What can't we do?" I asked impatiently, rolling to my feet, almost sighing as Sayuri retreating into herself. Her social anxiety must be a bitch to deal with at school.

"Stay at Sayuri's tonight," Yuri shot over his shoulder. I frowned as I sat back on my feet. That wasn't a bad idea.

"Do you not want to?" I asked. He shot me a glance.

"What? No, it's not-"

"Is there some kind of Japanese thing where staying at other people's houses is frowned upon or something?"

"Well, no…"

"So what's the problem?" I folded my arms. She raised her eyes to look at him hopefully. Yuri looked at her and gave a heavy sigh. Between the two of us, we had whittled him down.

"We don't mean to impose-"

"You won't," she said quietly, gripping his hand. She gave me a tiny little smile and I winked back, making her look away quickly. I had to admit that as timid as she was, Sayuri was completely adorable.

* * *

><p>I slipped into the music room, tired out of my mind. We'd stayed up really late trying to finish the apartment and hadn't quite managed it. Massively grateful to take up Sayuri's offer, we'd staggered across the neighbourhood, covered in white paint, and surprisingly made it there without any hassle. Sayuri lived alone and it was kind of weird, as she could barely speak to me without going bright red. She seemed oddly uncomfortable around me. Her cooking, though, was absolutely amazing and our compliments seemed to please her immensely. I didn't even have time to make Yuri feel uncomfortable with my mockery before we'd passed out on her living room floor, shattered. I'd woken up once, with that horrible sinking feeling a nightmare leaves you, and it took me a long time to get the dream out of my head to get back to sleep.<p>

"Morning," I said, collapsing into a chair. Haruhi looked at me.

"Good morning." She tilted her head and gave me a funny look. I raised an eyebrow – what was up with her?

"Did you have a good evening?" Kyoya asked, without looking up. I looked at him and sighed.

"We were redecorating," I said. He gave me a puzzled look but I really couldn't be bothered to elaborate. I leant on the table, my chin on my arms. Honey put his head on the table to stare at me.

"You look tired, Kat-chan." He gave a secretive little smile and I rolled my eyes. He seemed to be enjoying his insider knowledge way too much but it wasn't like that had anything to with my weariness. I stuck my tongue out at him and he giggled, hugging his bunny tight. Mori gave him a look and I wondered if the tall silent host was in on the secret. I closed my eyes. It seemed odd to think of Honey keeping anything from Mori.

Then again, it seemed odd to think of Kaoru keeping anything from Hikaru.

"Morning, m'lord." I smiled to myself as Hikaru's voice accompanied the opening of the door. I looked up as he took a chair and frowned.

"Where's Kaoru?" I asked without thinking. The look he gave me was filled with… something. He knew, I realised. Everyone knew. That's why they were all looking at me like that. He probably told Hikaru when everyone was together last night. That sounded to me like the worst plan anyone had come up with ever. I was dating a moron.

"Don't you know?" Hikaru said moodily, staring at the window. I sat up straight.

"No," I said slowly. "No, I don't know."

"Oh. I left without him. I assumed he was meeting you." The tone of his voice stung. Hikaru was obviously not pleased with being kept out of anything involving his brother. I looked at Haruhi, who shrugged, looking lost.

"Hikaru…" I started but he looked at Tamaki.

"What's on the agenda today, boss?" He asked, ignoring me completely. I sank back in my chair. Kaoru had been right. I was pretty sure Hikaru hated me. Tamaki folded his arms.

"Hikaru, you are being very ungentlemanly." We all looked at the king.

"Tamaki, it's fine," I said quietly.

"It is not," Mori corrected me, looking pointedly at the twin. Hikaru squirmed under the tall host's gaze and put his elbows on the table sulkily.

"I know," he muttered. "I just don't like Kaoru keeping secrets."

"You realise he only did because he knew you'd do this, right?" I told him. Hikaru put his head on the table.

"Yes," he said grumpily. "But I didn't even see him this morning. Like he was avoiding me." Honey grinned.

"You're silly, Hikaru-chan," he laughed. "Kaoru-chan was just worried about you being mad at him."

"I know, I know." He lifted his head and gave me a half-hearted smile. "Sorry, Katya."

"Don't mention it, idiot." I waved my hand and he grinned properly. I relaxed. We were fine. Tamaki clapped happily.

"Excellent!" He exclaimed. "Now, Kyoya, what's down for today?" I put my head back on the table and closed my eyes as they began to rattle through the day's points, struggling not to fall asleep. My mind began to drift until everyone was rudely interrupted by Hikaru's phone bursting into familiar song. He fumbled with it, almost dropping it in surprise, and flicked it open.

"Where are you, Kaoru?" He said immediately, displeasure clear on his face. We waited, watching him. He took the phone away from his ear and looked at it. Nothing happened. He looked at me, his face falling.

"You said he wouldn't be mad at me," he muttered. I frowned.

"He isn't," I said. Hikaru put the phone back to his ear. I watched him apologise to his silent brother for a moment, wondering why Kaoru was being so childish. Maybe his brother not understanding him had thrown him for a loop. I looked at the window, thinking.

A cold shiver ran up my back and I shot to my feet.

"Give me the phone." They looked at me. Hikaru stopped talking and frowned.

"What-"

"Hikaru, give me the fucking phone." His eyes wide, he tossed me the phone and I pressed it to my ear. For a minute it was completely silent and then I began to hear breathing on the other end.

"Kaoru?" I said. Nothing happened. I sank down into my seat, my heart pumping wildly. I wanted to be wrong. Everyone was staring at me. I held the phone tight and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to organise my thoughts in a way my fear didn't make sense.

"Not this," I muttered into the phone. "Don't fucking do this." They all looked at me like I was insane.

"Katya," Hikaru asked. "What the hell is wrong?"

"Katya?" I looked at Kyoya and took a deep breath. I didn't know how, but I knew I was right. The silence was killing me. I slammed my hand down on the table, making everyone jump.

"Say something, you bastard!" I yelled into the phone. There was a moment of utter silence.

"That's not very nice, English."


	26. What Fate Has In Store

Chapter Twenty Six

What Fate Has In Store

I couldn't breathe. Every part of me felt empty and cold and I couldn't feel my heart beating. My eyes were staring but I wasn't seeing. I forgot about the others and I forgot where I was. His voice echoed through my head like a cruel joke, mocking everything I was. I gripped the phone so tight that it began to hurt. I gripped the table with my other hand to stop it shaking, as though I was digging my fingers into the wood. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"Listen very carefully, you sick, twisted fuck." Everyone looked at me sharply. The room became very still and very cold, like everything warm and happy had been sucked from it in a moment. Shock registered on their faces as I spoke softly into the phone.

"Leave him and walk away now. Walk away and we can forget about this. We can go our separate ways. But let me make this very, very clear." I stood up, leaning on the table. "Whatever you do to him, I will do to you tenfold. If you hurt him, I will not rest until I twist every limb from your body and make you howl for mercy. There is nowhere on this earth you can go where I will not come for you. Do you understand?"

"How passionate." Jai's voice was a purr. "Oh, English, I'm very disappointed."

"Don't toy with me, you son of a bitch," I snarled into the microphone. He laughed.

"But it's just so much fun," he replied smoothly. My nails dug into my palm and I ignored the wide eyes of the hosts. I didn't say anything to them. They could handle people like Tsubame, people swayed by reputation and riches but I knew people like Jai. I'd learnt how to fight fire with fire because I'd been burnt too many times before. Violence was the part of me that I kept close to my chest – until something like this happened and they could do nothing. This was not their territory. This was mine.

"Let. Him. Go," I hissed, looking up. Hikaru's eyes were wide and horrified and he'd gone a frightening shade of white.

"Not in the mood to talk, English?" Jai's sigh made my ear burn. "Not even to your rich little friend?" I stilled, saying nothing. A moment later, there was a small yelp and someone on the other end moaned.

"Kaoru?" I murmured. Hikaru jerked forwards but Mori put a hand on his shoulder. I didn't know how being a twin felt but considering how I was feeling, Hikaru was probably dying inside.

"Katya?" My heart soared and I sat down heavily, my hand on my forehead. Relief flooded through me – he was conscious and he could speak. At the moment, that was all that mattered. I was about to answer when there was a crack. I heard Kaoru cry out and my heart contracted painfully. He was hurting him and it was all my fault.

"Koaru!" I could hear him coughing but the phone moved away from him.

"That's enough of that," Jai said coldly.

"I am going to skin you alive," I spat. "I'm going to make you wish you had never heard my name." He laughed, but there was an ice to it that I really didn't like. I tried to pull myself together.

"What do you want, Jai?" I saw Kyoya stand up, his chair falling back with a crash. He was gripping the files so tightly that his knuckles were white.

"I don't need to tell you," Jai drawled. "I'm already getting it." There was a click and I stood perfectly still, staring at the table. This wasn't happening. I wanted to be dreaming. I wanted to wake up somewhere else where none of this was happening and I could go on with my life. My heart was cold and still. I didn't want to feel anymore. I couldn't. It had all been going so well. I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes, trying to stay calm. It didn't work.

I kicked the chair away from me angrily. It slid along the floor, hitting another table with a bang. I took a deep breath, leaning on the table.

"What can we do?" Kyoya asked, his voice eerily void of emotion.

"I don't know," I muttered. I couldn't think straight. My mind kept replaying Kaoru's cry of pain and the ice in Jai's voice. I was missing something here, I was sure. Why didn't he make any demands? What was he even doing? I glared at the table, my brain trying to make sense of everything, of anything.

"What's going on? Where's Kaoru?" Hikaru's voice shook. I looked at Kyoya. Neither of us spoke. Hikaru's hand slammed into the table.

"Where's my brother?!" He yelled at us.

"If I knew that," I said coolly. "I wouldn't be standing here."

"But you knew who that was. You _knew!_"

"Hikaru, now is not the time to lose your temper," Kyoya told him. He whipped around to face him.

"You know something too!" He gripped the front of Kyoya's shirt and the hosts made to stand when Kyoya held up a hand to stop them. After a moment, Hikaru's hands loosened and all the strength seemed to be sapped out of him. He was shaking.

"Is he okay?" He whispered.

"No."

"Katya," Kyoya warned but I glared at him.

"What do you want me to do, Kyoya, lie?" I looked at the hosts, who stared back at me. I had wanted to keep them far away from this but it looked like there was no way to do this. Not now. I looked down at the table and tried to arrange this into something that would get my point across.

"Kaoru might be alright for now but that's not going to last long," I said.

"How do you know? You can't know that!" Hikaru said, slightly hysterically.

"I can and I do." I pushed my sleeves up, revealing the thin bandages. "You know what this is from?"

"You fell through a window…" Haruhi said slowly, but I saw the cogs working in her head. I laughed and must have sounded slightly insane.

"I wish it was a window," I sighed. "Think less building addition and more crazy bastard with a knife." Her hand flew to her mouth as she realised who I was talking about. Hikaru stumbled to a chair and sat down with a moan, his head in his hands. His shoulders began to shake. Nobody said anything for a moment. I didn't know what to tell them. If I started worrying like they were, I would lose it. I couldn't think about Kaoru, dear sweet Kaoru, my Kaoru, anywhere near Jai. I didn't know what he was doing to him. I couldn't bear to think of him going through the pain I went through.

"Who is he?" Mori asked, his voice low.

"His name's Jai. He's a gang leader for the neighbourhood and he's completely insane." I looked up at them.

"There's a file on him," Kyoya said from his corner, his fingers flying across his keyboard at the speed of light. "Himura Jai. There's not much on the police database – a few assaults and a couple of robberies. He's not been around for long but it seems he went underground recently."

"For everyone else, yes." I rubbed my hand along my chest, which had started twinging for no reason. "Not for us. Not for me. That file is the tip of a very dangerous iceberg."

"So tell us," Tamaki said. I stared at him.

"What?"

"You obviously know this man. Therefore you can tell us everything that isn't in that file. What doesn't the police know?" I rubbed my hands over my eyes.

"You cannot piss this guy off without consequence," I said eventually, unable to get the image of a blood-soaked knife from my head. "Kaoru cannot afford to give Jai any reason to hurt him. He's not doing this with any kind of logical excuse. He's completely insane. He's an undiagnosed psychopath with a fetish for blades and he will not hesitate to use them at any opportunity he gets." Hikaru moaned into his hands. Haruhi put a hand on his shoulder and stared at me, white-faced.

"What does he want?" She asked. I shrugged.

"He said he was already getting it."

"Maybe he already called in a ransom demand," Kyoya said, tapping away. I shook my head.

"This isn't about money," I said. Hikaru raised his head.

"Then what is it about?" He asked desperately.

"I wish I knew, Hikaru," I muttered, sinking into a different chair. I would do anything, _anything_, for Kaoru not to be there. Jai could have asked for anything in the entire world – if it were money, immunity, anything, we could have given it to him. And if he knew about Kaoru, he knew about my school and he _knew_ my friends could do that. He knew who Kaoru was. Why hadn't he demanded anything? It didn't make any sense. It was like there was no plan to this. What kind of idiot took a boy like Kaoru without a plan? It couldn't just be the pain and suffering Jai liked to cause – he wouldn't have called.

"You _have _to know! You know him! Why is he doing this?!" Hikaru looked like he was going to throw up, tear streaks shining on his cheeks, and I swallowed.

Maybe this was my fault. Going for Yuri hadn't worked. Going for me hadn't worked. It was a logical step, I'd admit, but something about it just seemed… off. It was like my nightmares and my dreams had merged into one horrible creation. My heart was twisted in terror. I couldn't get the image of Kaoru's smile out of my head.

"What are you doing, Kyoya?" Tamaki said suddenly. Eyes turned to the Shadow King, who was completely absorbed in his screen.

"I'm creating a map of all offences to determine Jai's most probable location," he said simply.

"Would that work?" Hikaru asked, hope rising in his voice.

"It already has." He swung his laptop around. The map had a lot red dots connected my very thin black lines. Between the lines was three highlighted buildings – empty buildings, most likely. Two seemed to be warehouses and another an empty apartment block. I knew vaguely what he'd done but only from television; it was something called geographic profiling and I was not in the least surprised that it was one of the skills in Kyoya's arsenal. He began dialling a number, face blank.

"Shouldn't we call the police?" Haruhi said, looking around the room. I was honestly surprised no one had suggested it yet.

"We can handle it," Kyoya replied distantly. "And we don't know what will happen if we involve law enforcement. No, this is better handled in-house." He stood, his phone at his ear, and began giving orders over the phone. I put my head in my hands, trying to think. I felt like something else was bothering me but it was so hard to focus on anything. It was like everything had clouded over. Part of me was screaming that this couldn't be happening but I knew it was and there was nothing I could do about it. I hated feeling helpless. I gripped my hair tight, determined not to cry.

It wasn't long before the door to the music room slammed open, making us all jump out of our skins. I dug my nails into the palm of my hand and tried to pretend I hadn't just leapt to my feet in anticipation of certain death. The man in the doorway, garbed in all black with a helmet under his arm, saluted Kyoya smartly.

"Master Ootori," the soldier type barked. "Reporting for duty and awaiting orders, sir."

"Mori. Honey," Kyoya said, rising from his chair.

"What do we do?" Honey asked, jumping down from his chair.

"We help," Mori said in his low voice, watching the Ootori men out in the corridor intensely. Hikaru got up shakily.

"I want to come." Kyoya glanced over his shoulder and shook his head.

"No, Hikaru. You will only get in the way. We will get Kaoru back – don't worry." His eyes snapped to me. "You too, Katya. Stay here." I narrowed my eyes. I knew that logically I shouldn't go with, considering my state of healing, but I wanted to. I didn't want to just do nothing. There had to be something. But part of my mind was whispering at me to stay and I didn't know why. Reluctantly, I nodded my understanding and pretended not to notice the guard he put on the door.

It got very quiet after the corridor had emptied of whatever regiment Kyoya had called in. Haruhi buried her face in Tamaki's chest and the four of us sat in defeated silence. We were completely lost. I kept telling myself that between the Ootori army, Mori and Honey, Jai didn't stand a chance but no matter how many times I repeated it, the knowledge didn't get rid of the feeling of dread that had latched onto my spine. I glanced across at Hikaru, who had backed into the chair and sat there staring at nothing, completely white. It was like he'd broken. My eyes strayed back to the laptop where the buildings flashed lazily. The red dots lay scattered around and I began to wonder what they were for. More than one sat squarely on the high street where Haruhi had got involved, and the others lay scattered across the neighbourhood. In fact, most of the red dots from the past six months were in Haruhi's neighbourhood itself.

My brain began to scream at me and slowly pulled me out of my stupor. I couldn't just sit here like a zombie; that wasn't helping. Something was wrong and my subconscious was desperately throwing hints at me. After a moment, I sat up sharply.

"Wait a minute." The others looked at me as I pulled the laptop towards me.

"What are you doing?" Haruhi asked.

"He couldn't have used all offences," I muttered, scrolling sideways to find my apartment block. The dots he'd used, the numbers beside them – they were reported offences. No one downtown called the police on Jai anymore because everyone knew what it would get them – a lot of pain or a pot on the mantelpiece – which meant he'd used barely any offences at all. The majority of crimes were completely unreported. That meant geographical profiling wouldn't work on Jai, I realised. He wasn't working from these central locations at all. There was no way the gang's headquarters was any of them.

"They've got the wrong place!" I whipped out my phone, dialling Kyoya's number and swearing when it sent me straight to voicemail. Great. He'd obviously switched it off for the raid. I stared back at the computer, thinking. I had to think.

"What do you mean? Katya, what are you doing?" I ignored Tamaki and tried to focus. I could discount most of Haruhi's neighbourhood as points because that was pushing his boundaries – Jai had to be in my neighbourhood. He had to be downtown. My apartment block had been the focus for some time now but there were two others that had been plagued by Jai's gang. Everyone downtown knew when Jai had done something and I was no exception. I clicked a couple of time and two red dots sprang into being.

It literally took me five minutes of placing dots to find it. There were a few empty buildings downtown but those that were listed as empty rarely were. The old warehouse, which seemed in prime position, was ran by Old Mo and his family of homeless people. The abandoned multi-storey car park on the riverfront was widely thought of as the skate park, local teenagers having an almost constant presence. Once I'd started, a void showed up. A void that would make sense in any criminal's mind – don't commit crimes next to your lair.

That would make complete sense… unless you became so active that the lovely crime-free spot became very obvious.

I skidded to a stop at the door as the guard Kyoya had so kindly left held up a hand.

"I need to go." I tried to duck around him. It didn't happen.

"I'm sorry. Master Ootori was very specific – under no circumstances can you leave this room," he intoned, standing straight and tucking his helmet under his arm. He looked like he really didn't want to be there. He wanted to be with the others, where exciting things were happening. Instead, he was stuck on babysitting duty.

It rang some bells.

"But they're going to the wrong place!" I yelled at him.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, bored. "You cannot leave."

"Just radio Kyoya or something. Look, this could get Kaoru killed!" He looked me up and down and I felt the judgement begin.

"We will make radio contact after the raids. Should they have been unsuccessful, I shall endeavour to share your… suspicion." My blood boiled. I was questioning Kyoya so he wouldn't believe me? Was this guy serious? I turned away, gritting my teeth. As much as this guy wanted me to, I was not going to stay in this room while they conducted the most pointless of raids on buildings holding nothing. I eyed to the windows, wondering if I could survive the fall. I had to have a plan. Hikaru stood up, staring at me.

"Katya?" He asked hesitantly. I sighed, closing my eyes. I really didn't have a choice.

My elbow smashed into the side of the guard's head, crashing into the doorframe. Reeling, he didn't see the punch coming and I sent him flying out into the corridor, where he fell to one knee. His hand rose to his face and he muttered an oath before stilling. He looked up at me slowly before my heel met his temple with a sickening crack. He slid along the floor to a stop and didn't move. I knelt down to make sure I hadn't accidentally killed him or anything and began to search his pockets.

"What are you _doing_?!" I looked up at Hikaru, who stood in the doorway with a place-faced Tamaki, and looked at him blankly.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Beating the crap out of the Ootori private army?" Haruhi suggested, poking her head around the door.

"With frightening ease," Tamaki added under his breath. I straightened, satisfied.

"I'm saving Kaoru. You can either stay here or lend me a car. Either way, Kyoya's wrong and all you've got is me." Hikaru stared at me for a second.

"Okay," he muttered and then louder. "Okay. Let's go."

"Hikaru! What are you thinking?" Haruhi caught his arm. "You can't go after this guy! You heard what Katya said!" I didn't interject but there was no way I was letting Hikaru anywhere near Jai. Giving the twins matching but opposite scarring would please him no end.

"It's _Kaoru_," Hikaru said and the emotion in his voice made her let go. She stared at the floor.

"You two stay here. Keep trying to contact Kyoya. The address is on his laptop," I told them, undoing the ribbon around my neck. Tamaki nodded, putting his arm around Haruhi.

"What are you going to do?" I started away from them, not waiting for Hikaru to catch up. I was just focussing on finding Kaoru. I had no idea what I was going to do when I found Jai.

But I hoped it was going to hurt.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Sorry about the gap (though your reactions were, quite frankly, hilarious). Have an update. Hope you can wait for the next one!<em>


	27. So Much For Noble Steed

Chapter Twenty Seven

So Much For Noble Steed

The empty building loomed over the river path. The barely legible sign declared that it used to be an enormous library but in this part of town, nobody had time for it. Over the years, it had been forgotten. Its odd location and weirdly British Victorian design meant nobody had leapt to buy it. The battered For Sale sign swung lazily in the wind, tapping against the open door. It was very, very quiet, as though the building itself was holding its breath, as though it was waiting for something to happen. I closed the car door behind me and leant down to glare through the window.

"Stay in the car."

"What? Why?" Hikaru protested. I rolled my eyes.

"Because this will be hard enough without another potential target," I snapped. "Just stay in the damn car and wait for the others." The car was parked on the opposite side of the river, hopefully far enough to stay out of sight if anything went wrong. The driver himself had not been given the details but was looking more and more nervous about being there. Hopefully his loyalty to the Hitachiins outweighed his curiosity… and/or fear. Hikaru looked past me at the building, as though expecting to see his brother standing there.

"You're sure this is right?"

"As sure as I can be." Which honestly wasn't all that sure. I looked down at myself. I wished I was wearing more clothing. I wished I was wearing something thicker, something that would resist a blade, like leather, or Kevlar. There wasn't time to do anything about it now – I had to make do with my uniform. I didn't know how much time Kaoru had. I didn't know what Jai was doing. I couldn't hear screaming though. The lack of screaming was a good sign.

I hoped.

"What if they don't come?" Hikaru asked softly. I glanced at him. Hikaru wasn't usually like this. Hikaru was the twin who didn't care what other people thought – he was the loud one, the brash one. But Kaoru being in trouble, the kind of trouble he couldn't deal with, was slowly breaking him. I had to get Kaoru back. If not for the constant agony that had wrapped itself around my heart, then for Hikaru. The guy was barely functioning.

"They'll come," I assured him. They had to come. I had a vague idea of how to handle going in. Getting out was, as usual, going to be a problem. I was really going to need some back up.

"Katya." I glanced down as he said my name. He was stared resolutely at his hands.

"What?" He looked up at me, his eyes pained.

"Bring him back," he whispered. My heart shattered for him and I forced a half-smile, hopping I looked vaguely soothing. I didn't feel soothing. I was shaking all over and I really needed to punch something. Kaoru's voice kept playing over and over in my head and I knew that I had to do everything to get him back. I met Hikaru's eyes with my own and hardened them to steel.

"Or die trying," I told him and set off to cross the bridge.

* * *

><p>It was dark inside and freezing cold. Old bookcases lay broken and forlorn across the floor, in places piled to the ceiling where an estate agent had got a bit hopeful, and the occasional book sat where it had fallen, forgotten, its spine broken from too many years of lying open. I closed the door behind me, looking around. At my feet, cigarette butts and gum marred the old wood, occasional dark stains flashing a memory of red on pavement, while the door frame had new nicks as though someone had been stabbing at it, bored. That was a good sign. In a twisted kind of way.<p>

I crept forwards, trying to stay as low as I could, but the floor wasn't built for stealth. It creaked loudly and often. I swore inwardly and wondered which idiot had put creaking floorboards in a damn library. I was sure that someone would…

"You hear that?" I dived behind a fallen bookcase, my heart almost exploding in my chest. I tried to make myself as small as possible, listening. I'd totally called it.

"Hear what?" The other voice snorted. "You're just hearing things again. Suck it up."

"No, I'm serious this time!" I recognised Tattoos' nasally voice and pressed my body into the floor. I became aware of their footsteps. They were getting closer and closer. One gave a hacking cough, which I attributed to the fact that chain-smoking seemed to be a gang requirement.

"Come off it, Ayumu," a third joined in. "You've been really jumpy since that girl beat your ass." Two and Three guffawed at the insult.

"She didn't beat my ass," Tattoos protested. "I wasn't feeling too good. I could totally take her on, easily!" I would have laughed, had I not been distinctly terrified that they were going to find me.

"Sure you could," Two chortled.

"You better watch out, Ayumu," Three said with false horror. "Don't you live next to those dangerous three-year-olds?"

"Little girls are always very deadly," Two agreed with a laugh.

"Fuck you guys," Tattoos muttered. They were right on top of me – I could see them through the cracks in the old bookcase. Three was very tall and skinny, but non-descript, the kind of person that I'd never even notice. Two was the same height as Tattoos, but built like a brick shithouse, with a savage face marred by an old scar. My hand rose to fiddle with my bandages as I watched the scar tissue tug every time he changed expression. Tattoos himself – apparently called 'Ayumu', which totally didn't suit him – took a deep puff on their shared cigarette, his face dark. One side of his head was heavily bandaged and he had two black eyes either side of a rather bent nose. The memory of doing that was a fond one and I let myself give a wicked smile as I surveyed my handiwork. The bandage was blood-stained and obviously hadn't been changed recently. I hoped his ear got infected and his face swelled up to five times the size. Every time he moved his head, he looked like it hurt. _Good, _I thought viciously. Maybe he would understand how Yuri had felt when they'd tried to punch his face in. He looked around as he threw the remainder of the cigarette on the ground and I ducked out of sight, holding my breath. There was a thud and he swore at one of these others. He'd obviously been punched. I approved.

"Stop being such a wimp," Two said, suddenly serious. "You're making us look bad. D'you want Jai to fucking deal with you?"

"Shut up," Tattoos snarled, stalking towards the door. "We got a job to do." His companions shared a look and stalked after him, muttering among themselves. I watched them slip outside through the gap in the wood and slowly breathed out. That had been close. The teetering piles of bookcases made for plenty of hiding places but whether that was a good thing or not, depended on whether it was me or them hiding in them.

I slid out from behind the bookcase, climbing warily to my feet. Two and Three were members I didn't know, which meant there could be many more that I wasn't anticipating. I picked my way across the ground floor, peeking around the piles of furniture, towards the sweeping staircase at the back. It had the kind of ruined grandeur I was sure Jai wouldn't be able to resist.

Something fell over and I froze to the spot, my eyes darting towards its source. Nothing seemed to be moving and in the mess, I couldn't figure out what had fallen. Had someone knocked it over as they crept up on me, hoping to take me by surprised? Or had it been teetering on the edge for a while and had just now given in to gravity? Could I be that lucky?

My heart hammered as I braved another step towards the stairs, twisting oddly to watch the room. It seemed so still and that was almost worse that seeing movement. Someone could have been out there, watching, waiting. I almost stumbled on the first step before pulling myself together. Rising above the jumble of the ground floor, the empty hiding places revealed themselves and I let out a breath I didn't realise I'd been holding.

"Dammit," I breathed. I really needed to get a grip if I was going to be of any use here at all.

The first floor was a bust. I slunk from hiding spot to hiding spot, and found absolutely nothing. I crouched by the door on the south wall, listening. The back rooms, located only at the back of this floor and on the second, seemed like the most likely hideout. They also seemed like the very worst place for me to venture into. Not that I had a choice. I hooked my finger around the door and pulled lightly. It swung, thankfully silently, and stopped, leaving a gap of about ten inches. I waited a moment before peering through.

The thin corridor was empty but light was spilling out from one of the offices on the right, a shadow moving back and forth. I pushed through the door as soon as I dared and quietly made my way down the corridor.

"You're being foolish, Jai." I froze against the wall, my heart in my mouth. Slowly, I slid behind the open door and crept as close as I could to the hinges, attempting to peek through.

"Oh, really?" The voice shot right through me like a spear made of ice. My skin prickled and I started to shake wildly and I realised: I was afraid. I was deathly afraid of Jai in a way I'd never been before. All I could hear was the glee in his voice as he drove his knife into me and it was cementing me to the spot. I couldn't do this, not like this. The fear was overwhelming. My vision narrowed and my breath came short and fast. I was going to hyperventilate if I wasn't careful, I thought, and tried to fight the fear.

"You're risking _everything_. I don't care how much you think you know, taking the Hitachiin boy was too far!" I blinked. _Kaoru_. If Jai were here, then he had to be here somewhere. I had to pull myself together. I closed my eyes and blocked out Jai's answer that tried to worm its way into my brain like a slimy worm of terror. I thought about Kaoru – his smile, his laugh, his kindness, his loyalty, his mischief, the way his hands burned against my skin, the way his lips crackled with electricity against mine. I had to save him and shuddering behind a door like coward was not helping.

"Jai, you need to forget about this," the man growled. I peeked through the door, biting my lower lip hard to contain myself. Jai had his feet up on a decrepit desk and a hat pulled over his eyes. He waved a hand lazily at the other man in the room, a tall broad blond man with the suspicious accent. I took a stab at Russian before focussing. I eased my way around the door and braced myself, eyeing the open doorway.

"This plan, it cannot work, Jai. There is nobody that is as foolish as you are." I took a couple of tiny steps forwards, watching the Russian's back. If Jai looked up now, I was dead, out in plain view.

"Do you never listen to me, Vaska?" Jai chuckled, not moving as I moved slowly across the doorway. "This plan is already working."

"I see no proof of this," the Russian Vaska rumbled. I reached the other side of the doorframe and sank against the wall, catching my breath. With my luck, there was no way that should have worked. My thighs were absolutely killing me but I didn't dare stand up. Staying in my crouch, I stole down the darkening corridor, away from the voices and away from Jai. I reached the first office and looked inside – it was empty except for an over-turned bin. Heart beating rapidly, I glanced back at the lit doorway and then down the corridor. Only two more doors until it bent away and I'd be safe to search as I pleased.

They turned out to be empty too and I slid around the corner with almost ecstatic relief, breathing deeply. This corridor seemed barely used. I straightened, my aching legs twinging in protest and listened for a moment. The murmuring of the conversation hadn't changed. Good. I bunched my hands into fists and looked down the new corridor. My gaze moved over the doors and to the small staircase at the far end, one set going up, one going down. It was becoming very obvious that no one with any kind of good will had been in this place for a long time. Each room on the left had the windows boarded shut and each room on the right had that desolate cramped feeling only windowless boxes have. Each office was just a jumble of scrunched up paper, destroyed furniture and broken dreams – that is, until room number nine of the left hand side. Although the desk was in two distinct pieces and the chair to my right lay forlornly on its side, room number nine was very different. Mainly due to the person slumped against the radiator on the right hand wall.

I skidded to my knees and tilted his head up. Amber eyes cracked open to peer at me.

"Katya?" Kaoru whispered. I had never been so relieved. I wanted to cry but instead I kissed him lightly.

"Hush," I murmured, my hands on his cheeks as I quickly assessed his injuries. One of his eyes seemed to be blackening quickly. A rather nasty ridge of purple ran across the side of his bare chest, his shirt hanging in tatters from his shoulders, but bruising seemed to be all the injuries he had. That, and probably a splitting headache from being knocked unconscious. A particularly dark bruise was flowering at his temple. I trembled with fury and debating running back to the office to beat the ever-loving shit out of Jai. But I couldn't. Kaoru blinked at me, not quite with it.

"It's okay," I told him. "We're getting out of here." I reached around to his hands, tied to the radiator with aging rope and a relatively shoddy knot. I began picking at it.

"You shouldn't be here," Kaoru said under his breath. "You shouldn't have come."

"Like hell," I muttered furiously, tugging a length of rope out of the tangle. "What was I going to do, leave you?"

"No, you don't understand –"

"We don't have time for this." I gave the knot one final tug and the knot spiralled around itself, falling to the ground. "We have to get out of here. Hikaru's basically exploding with worry and that would just be messy." He didn't argue and accepted my help as he stood up, wincing. I worried about the state of his ribs and put my hand on his chest tentatively. He hissed in pain and caught me by the wrist. I made a face.

"Sorry," I whispered, slipping his arm over my shoulders.

"This is insane," he mumbled. "You're completely insane."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I retorted, looking carefully up and down the corridor. "Lecture me when we're not in mortal peril, alright?" He gave a painful chuckle and let me lead him down the corridor towards the stairs. Each step he took made him grit his teeth as different parts of his body began resisting, bruised and battered as he was. Halfway down the corridor, I was convinced he had at least one broken rib and I had no idea how to deal with that. All I could do was hope it wasn't the splintered-poke-a-hole-in-your-lung kind. We got to the top of the stairs and I made him lean against the railing and breathe. There was no way we were making our getaway in one go with him in this condition.

"I'm fine," he insisted weakly.

"Shut up, Kaoru," I commanded quietly. "If walking is painful, then stairs will be more so. Hence, take a break." He hung his head, breathing hard.

"I'll be fine in a moment," he wheezed and then looked up at me with a half-smile. "Why did you come?"

"What else was I supposed to do?" I asked, genuinely confused. He reached out and touched my cheek, making me blush. I rolled my eyes at myself. Now was so not the time to go all tween-age girl on him. We had bigger fish to fry than my sudden overwhelming need to kiss the pain in his face away. I looked back down the corridor to check for movement and then did a double-take. There was a light on in one of the rooms. It hadn't occurred to me that it was weird but now, looking back, I realised I'd been stupid and not checked the rooms after number nine. I'd been so caught up in having found Kaoru. What kind of rescuer didn't clear rooms? I'd left about twenty two rooms completely unchecked. I took a step forwards. I had to know if we'd been seen.

"Katya?" I glanced over my shoulder.

"Stay there. I'll be back in a moment," I assured him softly, making my way stealthily towards the glowing and slightly open door of room number fourteen, on the opposite wall to Kaoru's prison. I heard him mutter something about being the worst saviour in history and smirked to myself as I prodded the door, letting it swing open silently. If there was anyone there, I would have to deal with them. There was no way they hadn't seen us and I couldn't let them warn Jai. When there was no reaction from the inside of the room, I poked my head around the doorframe to double-check.

My face stared back at me.

The far wall was covered, every corner, every inch. Pictures of me that I didn't know existed, some that I did, candid shot, distant shots, photos stolen from social media sites, it was a veritable shrine and it was all me. I stood in the doorway, mouth hanging open as things slowly started to make sense. This was what I'd been missing. I'd known there was something I was missing but I'd never thought it was this. Never in my most ridiculous moments did I think it was this. _His girl,_ I realised slowly. That's what Tattoos had said to me. The roses, the _dozen roses_. I stared at myself laughing at the Ouran gates. Yuri had called it an obsession but we'd thought it was of hate.

It wasn't. I'd known enough obsessive teenage girls to know exactly what was going on here and it scared me more than anything else.

I backed up a couple of steps, stumbling away from the terrifying wall of me, and bumped into something hard. A huge hand clamped suddenly over my face and I twisted wildly, clawing at the cloth that was now pressed over my nose and mouth. I kicked my legs but they felt suddenly heavy and I felt my limbs go weak and useless. _Kaoru_, I thought desperately, trying to get my body to obey. I vaguely noticed crumpling to the wooden floor before darkness chased me from my mind.


	28. Living The Nightmare

Chapter Twenty Eight

Living The Nightmare

I couldn't feel my legs. This wasn't particularly unusual waking up – I was lazy as hell and my limbs liked to turn into lead in the mornings, all the better for gravity to hold me down. Something hard and slightly pointy was digging into my side. I shifted slightly to get rid of it but it was really big. I couldn't figure out what it was. The oddest thing was the pounding in my head as light seared through my eyelids. It felt a little like a hangover I'd once had when I was fourteen but I didn't remember drinking anything. I'd have been really stupid to drink anything before trying to infiltrate Jai's hideout.

Oh. Right. That.

_Kaoru_.

I rolled to my feet in an instant, almost tripping over the broken chair leg and staggering back into the wall, my head spinning. Whatever I'd inhaled had worked too fast to be chloroform but I didn't know enough about goddamn knockout drugs to identify it. Whatever it was, it was really not agreeing with me and all my limbs felt a little vague.

"Oh, you're awake. Good. I was starting to get bored." I squinted against the light of the desk lamp, holding onto the wall behind me.

"Oh, gee, we wouldn't want that," I drawled with as much venom as I could muster. My eyes were adjusting, despite the blinding pain in my skull. Jai tutted at me and my skin crawled, replaying the Wall of Ultimate Horror over and over in my mind.

"Now, now, English. Haven't you learnt your lesson?" He looked to the side and my pained eyes followed. The big Russian, Vaska, glared back at me. _Big foreign dude,_ I thought suddenly and though I urged to beat his face in for beating Yuri's, two things stopped me.

Thing One, he was huge. As in, he had to be approaching seven feet tall and almost as broad, with muscles upon other muscles, so big that those muscles had to have their own _team_ of mini-muscles to work them. This guy was the very definition of murder tank and everything I'd imagine a Russian mafia hitman to look like. His jaw line was stereotypically square and his expression unsurprisingly grim and serious. Mr Kill-You-With-My-Pinky was definitely an excellent Thing One, in a very un-Seuss kind of way.

Thing Two, the enormous hands that belonged to our personal Russian mobster friend were holding Kaoru firmly in his chair.

I turned icy eyes to Jai, fury boiling within me.

"Let him go," I spat. The crazy person seemed to think about it for a second but I knew what he was doing. He was trying to bait me.

"No, I don't think I will." I took a threatening step towards him and almost fell on my face. I glanced down at the rope attaching my ankle to the radiator behind me. While rudimentary, I didn't think I had the dexterity in my slightly fuzzy fingers to pick my way out of the knot. I yanked my foot forwards but all that happened was the rope got uncomfortably tight and I admonished myself for such a stupid move.

"You see, I'm still using him," Jai continued, oblivious to my idiocy. My head snapped up. _Using him?_

"He played bait perfectly, don't you think?" He said, smiling at me as he wandered over to Kaoru. I suddenly couldn't take my eyes off the blade in his hand. My heart got faster for every inch it got closer to him and I wanted to drag him away. He shouldn't be here. How did I ever let it go this far? Kaoru jerked his head away, glaring furiously and spat. I felt a surge of… something like pride for a brief moment. Jai, however, obviously didn't and backhanded him across the face.

"Stop it!" I shouted.

"I'm okay," I heard Kaoru muttered thickly, trying to right himself with his bound hands, but he really didn't get a say in how okay he was, not here. Jai looked at me and heaved a great sigh. As if on cue, Vaska grabbed Kaoru by the hair and yanked his head back with a cry of pain. I almost yelled but the blade danced perilously close to his neck. I froze, my eyes flitting between the two of them as cold seeped into my chest.

"You know, I thought I was being the perfect gentleman to you, English," Jai said, holding the knife lazily.

"Just as a head's up, gentleman don't normally try and kill women as a courting method," I murmured, not looking away from Kaoru. Jai laughed.

"I don't think there's anything normal about us, do you?" I couldn't really argue with that. We were weird as fuck, that was for sure. "I had to know, English. You were just so…" He gestured before looking at Vaska. "What did I say before? It was really poetic."

"Alight with fiery anger," the Russian said gruffly and with obvious disdain. Jai clicked.

"That was it!"

"I'm flattered," I muttered unconvincingly.

"And I was right!" He continued, as if he hadn't heard. I wasn't sure he had. The delusion he had going on was pretty damn impressive, I realised, which made him about a million times more dangerous. "You survived and not only that, you came back and beat the _shit_ out of Ayumu! I mean, I was expected pay-back but you blew my _mind_ with that move!" He laughed. "When that came out, I could barely _sleep_ from excitement. You were the whole package," he said with a grin, waving his knife at me. Then he paused and the knife suddenly swung back towards Kaoru, who stiffened as I let out a yell, pulling at my rope. Jai sighed.

"And then this guy shows up." I stared at him uncomprehendingly as he ran a hand through his dark hair, looking at me with almost pained eyes.

He had to be kidding.

"You don't know how mad I was at you when I heard you were dating someone." _Oh, yeah I do, _I thought, picturing the destroyed apartment. "I thought I was going to go insane. But finding out that I'd been looking at the wrong school, that you were at Ouran? I mean, that just put a whole different perspective on things," he said with a horrible, horrible smile. A red line was forming on Kaoru's throat where the blade was pressed. He closed his eyes tightly as Jai sneered at the tricle of red that ran down his white skin. I leaned against the rope, hoping I could pull the old radiator right off the wall.

"Stop it," I hissed. Jai raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think you're in a position to demand, English. If I were you, I'd stop yourself." The angle of the blade grew threatening and I let the rope go slack and held up my hands in defeat. I could barely breathe.

"Okay. Okay, fine," I said quietly. "I'm here. Your plan worked. Congrats. Now let him go and you can have another go at slicing me to pieces." Jai smirked.

"That's not going to happen, now, is it?" He said, looking down at Kaoru. "He's the perfect way to control you. You're much too volatile by yourself." My hands started to shake. I did not like this. I did not like this one bit.

"What's the plan, then, Jai?" I said, folding my arms to hide the trembling. "You know I'm not stupid to come here without a back-up plan. You can't keep him here forever." The dark-haired guy nodded, acknowledging my point. Kaoru rolled his eyes to look at me questioningly. I saw the pain but also anger. Anger was good.

"That's why that's not the plan," he told me. A shiver ran down my spine.

"Care to share?" I said. I had to get him monologue-ing. It was a classic bad guy slip-up. If he started telling me his entire plan, his reasoning, his life's story, then maybe Kyoya and his miniature army would show up in time. I couldn't take my eyes off the bright red oozing into Kaoru's shirt.

Jai grinned.

"I only need to keep him for as long as it takes to break you." I wanted to laugh. So I did. Hollowly.

"Break me? Please. You've already almost killed me and that didn't work, did it?" He really hadn't thought this through. "Exactly what's your idea this time?" Jai didn't seemed phased. I probably should have twigged earlier but I was too focused on Kaoru. All my brain power was trying to figure out how to get him out of there. That's why, when Jai pulled a chair up next to Kaoru and said those four words, it took a minute to compute.

"I beg your pardon?" I said stupidly. He sighed, leaning forwards in the chair and pressing the blade to Kaoru's throat. Hard.

"I said, take off your clothes."

"Fuck you," Kaoru spat, more blood running down his neck. "Katya, don't-" Jai sharply told him to shut up, not looking away from me. I tried to take a deep breath but my lungs were suddenly very, very small and my head was suddenly empty of anything. I looked at Kaoru. He begged me silently with his gorgeous amber eyes but all I could see was the knife against his carotid artery and the image of the ceiling plastered with his blood wouldn't leave my head. I squeezed my eyes shut and shrugged off my blazer, letting it fall to the ground. I wanted to throw up.

"No, English, eyes open," Jai chuckled. I forced myself to obey but I looked at Kaoru. Only at Kaoru. Slowly, half out of fear, half out of obedience, I slipped my sweater vest over my head, biting my lip to stop from screaming in frustration. Jai was smiling. Of course he was fucking smiling. Break me, he'd said. I was fucking humiliated. It was like everyone in this damn country knew every way to get to me and to make it hurt. I had thought he couldn't, that I was immune to it, but he'd figured out how. And we both knew it.

My trembling fingers fumbled at the top button of my shirt, brushing the bandages beneath. The healing wound gave a small throb, as if it knew its creator was nearby. I was very aware of them, all over my body, as I popped the third button. Everything was shaking now. I was going to cry, I realised suddenly, blinking furiously, and Kaoru shut his eyes, shaking with rage. I saw him grit his teeth and I wanted to tell him to stop worrying about me and start worrying about the damn blood he was losing.

Which was good advice for me as well. I focused on not painting the walls red and let the shirt fall to the floor. Jai gave a small whistle and I rolled my eyes.

"Very nice," he murmured, his knife straying away from Kaoru as he became understandably distracted by the twins. They were impressive but now was really not the time. I didn't make a move to carry on, watching him carefully. After a moment of frozen anxiety, he pushed to his feet and walked towards me.

I couldn't help stepping back and my back hit the wall.

"Very nice indeed." He touched the knife to the bare flesh between the bandages and every part of me shrieked with sudden, paralysing fear. I couldn't breathe. My entire body shuddered with remembered pain. Jai might not have realised it but I was almost broken already.

"Don't touch her!" Kaoru yelled.

"Shut him up," Jai snapped without looking.

"Don't-" The Russian put one huge hand across Kaoru's mouth. He struggled but the mountain of a man seemed as immovable as his namesake. My skin crawled as the blade became fingertips.

"I'm going to destroy you," I whispered, fighting the bile that rose in my throat. I had never been this afraid. Jai gave an amused smile.

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't try," he breathed, starting to slice through the thin bandages. I pressed my lips together, glancing over at Kaoru. He tried to kick his chair back into Vaska but the man didn't seem at all bothered by it. It was like a fly trying to attack a wolf. It wasn't happening.

"You're sick," I told Jai as the bandages unravelled to the floor. "You're completely fucking insane and I highly recommend you get help immediately." He chuckled, ignoring me until all his handiwork was uncovered. He ran his hands over the vivid pink lines that marred my skin, dotted with young scar tissue, and an almost blissful smile played over his face that I longed to scratch into oblivion.

"You're so beautiful."

"Please tell me you're talking to the scars," I muttered, my body cringing away from his touch. Jai smiled triumphantly and looked over his shoulder at Kaoru, who was staring at me desperately.

"Enjoying the show, Hitachiin?" Jai mocked. I saw fire burn in the other's eyes and I wished I was stronger. Jai laughed again. He was really fucking enjoying doing this, to him, to both of us.

"Shall we make it more interesting?" I wanted to say no but he caught me by the throat and pressed his lips against mine to Kaoru's muffled yells.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Sorry that this has taken a while - *ahem* WolfDemonNekko, you impatient little so-and-so! :P As I said, I've got a fuck-ton to do at university this semester and I've had what I suspect is a chest infection or something similar for the last <span>two weeks<span>. Ugh, it has sucked. But anyway, here it is. If you want to discuss stuff, I don't mind you PM-ing me but goddamn, **please** don't PM just to bug me to write the next chapter or I shall send a plague of demonic purple locusts (I totally have that power) :D_


	29. A Couple Of Things Get Lost

Chapter Twenty Nine

A Couple Of Things Get Lost

I couldn't move. I knew what I should have done – I should have not formed attachments in the first place and I should have sunk my fist repeatedly into his face until he could never speak again. Instead, my stomach heaved and my heart shrivelled away in disgust. He smelt of leather and sweat and something metallic that I couldn't be sure wasn't blood. I wanted to set myself on fire just to get rid of the feeling of his hand on my waist. The one around my throat tightened painfully and I clawed at his wrist. I was starting to get dizzy and it was nothing to do with the kiss. I needed to breathe. I needed to get away. I needed…

He pulled away sharply and I fell to my knees, forcing air into my lungs. There was a sneer, a kind of sneer that could haunt a girl's dreams for eons to come and it seemed to brand itself onto the front of my brain, next to the memories of blood and blades and abstract fear. I sunk into myself, gagging and shaking violently. Kaoru's foot thumped down near Vaska's foot in an unsuccessful furious attempt to break free. I wanted to tell him I was fine but I was too busy being distinctly not fine. Every nerve was withering inside me, curling away from empty-feeling veins. My heart thundered in my head, making it hard to think of anything. I couldn't get rid of the fear. My tunnel vision saw only him and the knife and I broke out in a cold sweat.

"Now, you're going to be good and quiet, rich boy," Jai said dangerously, "Or we're going to do that again and you really didn't enjoy that, did you?" He snickered as Vaska let Kaoru go. He sat silently and stared at Jai, his eyes flickering towards me. This was not going well. I had fucked up this rescue to astronomically proportions. My hand strayed to where the rope dug painfully into my ankle.

Jai poked me with his foot. In a not very well thought-out response, I spat on the ground and tried to stop my skin from crawling. He sighed.

"You see, Hitachiin, there's a trick with people like this. English here," Jai said, gripping my hair and pulling me upwards. "Well, she's got a record graphic enough that makes _my_ toes curl. This one's got a history of making enemies and, well, those that start fights don't tend to be able to pick them again. Right, English?" I squeezed my eyes shut and debating breaking his arm into multiple pieces, but Vaska was more than capable of doing the same to Kaoru's neck. The way he was going on… it was like he knew and extreme measures had been taken to make sure that didn't happen. He shook me slightly and I gave an involuntary yelp that made him chuckle. My scarring skin burned.

"I could cut her up some more if I liked." The blade skimmed my stomach idly. "I could beat her down and string her up and you know what I'd get from it? Nothing." Jai sighed regretfully. "Absolutely nothing at all."

"Nice that you know where you stand," I choked out.

"Stop it, Katya," Kaoru whispered, his eyes riveted on the knife. Jai laughed.

"She won't. I told you earlier. She's very… volatile." A shudder ran across my skin. "She needs breaking. And there's only one way to break her type." I saw his smile out of the corner of my eye and he leant in close to me, making me cringe away from him

"It begins with an R," he breathed into my ear and my heart stopped.

"No," I whispered.

"No!" Kaoru shouted. Jai started to laugh again, his fingers winding painfully in my hair. His tongue on my cheek made me gag and Kaoru yelled an obscenity, twisting in the Russian's grip as Jai's free hand began to move. Vaska shook him to make him shut up and it worked, mildly, as he watched with desperate eyes. I whimpered under his touch. I had completely lost control of this and now we had no way out. Not yet. He smiled wickedly, finding pleasure in seeing me writhe.

"I find it funny," Jai murmured, his hand inching dangerously towards the twins. "How women can be so brave until you throw sex into the mix. Look at you, English. You're _afraid_." Damn right I was afraid. My breathing came so fast I was almost hyperventilating, my mind showing me all the places I had gone wrong. He teased the strap of my bra, pulling me higher by my hair, tugging it slowly over my shoulder. A tear rolled down my cheek before I could stop it and Kaoru turned his head away, unable to watch my humiliation. Jai breathed out, almost a hiss. His finger travelled over my chest and along the deep scar he'd created, following it down between my breasts. A satisfied smile played across his face as he withdrew his hand. He pressed his lips against my cheek and I tried to turn my head away but he twisted my hair painfully, making me gasp.

"Are you ready, English?" Fingers fumbled at the catch on my bra. I wriggled, trying to make it difficult for him, every instinct I had screaming at me to not let this happen. It made him laugh and his tongue travelled down my stretched neck, making me shudder in revulsion.

A loud crash echoed through the empty building. Jai froze in place.

"What was that?" He barked. Vaska tilted his head, listening, and then gritted his teeth. A black, solid handgun appeared from nowhere and he pointed it at the door. Well, maybe not from nowhere but I was slightly distracted by all the nope that had just been happening. Jai rose to his feet. The second crash was closer. Someone shouted, short and commanding, and a multiple of sharp acknowledgements were yelled back.

"Who is that?" Jai hissed. Vaska moved, much more quietly than such a big man should, and glanced out into the corridor. I stared at the floor, listening, and heat rushed back into my shivering limbs.

"Kyoya," I breathed. Kaoru looked at me sharply.

"Not ours," the Russian grunted from the door.

"Then go and deal with it," Jai snapped. With a nod, the tall blond slipped out of the door. The voices outside were louder now, with more crashes and suddenly, making us all jump, the first gunshot tore through the building. The raid had begun.

"That's my cue," I said jovially and launched myself at Jai.

I barrelled into him as he turned, catching him off balance and sending him hurtling over the upturned desk with a yell. The tips of my fingers were scratched and bloody, the old rope lying forlornly on the floor. Jai hit the ground hard, cracking his head against an already crooked leg, and his precious knife flew from his hand. I snatched it up and ran to Kaoru, slicing through the rope I didn't have time undo.

"Kyoya?" I just nodded as the door burst open and Vaska took in his struggling boss. His eyes became hard in the moment it took me to cross the room and tackle him backwards.

"Run!" Being the fool that he was, Kaoru hesitated. Vaska gave something akin to a roar, grabbing for my neck.

"Get off me!" He bellowed, his accent getting stronger the angrier he became.

"How strong do you think I fucking am?!" I shrieked at Kaoru as a ham-sized fist slammed down on me as he attempted to dislodge me. "Hikaru is waiting, you idiot! Run!" The thought of his brother plus his fear won out and he obeyed, streaking down the corridor. He had to escape. Though my mind was a bit fuzzy on the details of the mediocre escape plan, I could focus on one thing and that was that Kaoru had to get out. It wasn't just for me, though I was a selfish person and I wanted to join him. It was for the others too and I couldn't even imagine Hikaru without Kaoru. He probably wouldn't even have the will to beat the hell out of me for letting his brother die.

Vaska gripped my shoulder and threw me against the opposite wall. The wood gave way, peppering me with splinters as I slid to the floor with a groan. My skin tore on the rugged edges. It hurt. A lot.

"This," he snarled at me, lifting me into the air. "Is not your day."

"Tell me about it," I choked out. The knife slashed upwards and he dropped me with a howl, his other hand going for his gun. I paused but Jai appearing in the doorway decided me next move for me. I took off in the direction to Kaoru, running for whatever meagre life I had left. A bullet burst through the door in front of me and I threw myself sideways before scrabbling towards it. I heard Jai swear behind me, unfortunately not as riddled with holes as I'd have liked, but his voice seemed to be getting further away. The heavy footsteps, however, were getting closer and closer to me. I slammed open the door.

"Move!" The soldier shouted. I didn't really have a choice as an immense weight hit me in the back and sent me flying towards him. I crumpled to the ground next to him as he squeezed off a couple of shots.

"Are you alright?" He barked at me. I rolled over, pushing into a sitting position.

"I'm good," I stammered, though I wasn't sure he'd heard me as three more bullets flew at the skulking shadows in the hallway. I scrambled backwards until I hit an overturned bookcase. They should have hit Vaska. He wasn't making much of an effort to hide after he'd punched me across the room. He uncurled, filling the doorway. The soldier fired at him, once, twice. He twitched with each shot but he wasn't going down. Why wasn't he going down? His gun twitched.

"No…" The word whispered through my lips as I watched it rise.

"No!" I shouted, reaching forwards, as if I could push the bullet back. The soldier's head cracked back and for a moment, his dead eyes stared at the ceiling through the cracked visor, a trickle of blood from the hole between his eyes. Then he fell back, gone. My hand fell to my side. Vaska grinned.

"The Ootori private army," he said, slightly breathlessly. "They aren't the only ones with body armour." I stared at my feet, the blood pooling next to me. Vaska holstered his gun with a sigh.

"I am not supposed to harm you, girl. This foolish obsession of Jai's is the only thing keeping you alive. But it has overtaken him." He glared at me like it was my fault. "Until he has his way, this will not end. Until his fun is had, I cannot kill you like I would like. So you can imagine how eager I am for him to have you." He started towards me. My mind played threw a thousand scenarios and I chose one at random, dragging my feet beneath me, ready.

A bullet tore through his leg and he went down with a howl and a load of Russain swearwords, blood spraying between his fingers. His free hand went for his gun but the soldiers that had appeared around him pointed their own at his head. Reluctantly, he raised his hands above his head, shooting me a look that should have turned me to stone.

"Katya!" I was dragged to my feet by Kyoya. Vaska was being handcuffed and dragged away at gunpoint, moaning in pain. The ten other soldiers he had with him fanned out as they searched the surrounding area, communicating in hand gestures, which I'm pretty sure was pointless when the enemy knew you were already there. A sheet was lain over the dead soldier reverently. My heart clenched.

"Jai. He's back there. I have to go after him," I started, pulling away. He gripped my arm tightly.

"Katya, we've got him." I stilled.

"What?" I said stupidly.

"Coming out the back door," Kyoya said darkly. "We stationed some men there on the off chance he was a coward. I guess it paid off." My legs gave way and he caught me. They'd got Jai? My brain seemed to be muddled. Everything felt slightly wrong.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" I blinked.

"Where's Kaoru?"

"Outside. Katya, are you alright?" Kyoya asked earnestly. I rubbed my hands over my eyes. I was still shaking. I was still afraid. I kept waiting for that surge of hope and relief but it wasn't coming. Still, I forced a wan smile.

"You're doing that whole caring thing again, Kyoya. It's really not your style." He stared at me for a second and then chuckled, reaching for a walkie talkie. I gazed at the blood trail on the ground as he arranged one last sweep of the building. We'd done it. Kaoru was free and basically unharmed. Jai was in whatever custody the Ootori soldiers had. The neighbourhood was going to be safe again. Everything was going to be fine. Everything had worked out so fast.

So what was wrong with me?

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: When I said things would slow down, I really meant it. I am sorry, guys, but I'm a final year student and I have a fuck-ton of stuff to do at all times. I understand if you want to jump ship because I'm being slow. Kudos to those who're going to stick with me.<em>

_More to come._


	30. If I Lose My Temper

Chapter Thirty

If I Lose My Temper

"Kat-chan!" A blond Honey-shaped missile hit me in the stomach and I wheezed in pain. He blinked his huge brown eyes that were watering perilously.

"Why did you do that, Kat-chan? That was so dangerous!" He cried, hugging me around my waist. I patted his head and he let go, staring up at me like I was about to die on him. Kyoya didn't make a move to help me. Perhaps the loan of his blazer to cover up constituted as much help as the idiot who tried to raid Jai's compound alone was going to get. Mori gently detached Honey from me and lifted him away before the small boy noticed the hard, cold lump tucked into the back of my waistband.

"I am glad you are alright," he said in his deep voice. I smiled weakly.

"Me too," I muttered. I collapsed into the corner Kyoya pushed me towards, digging the heels of my hands into my eyes. I wanted to feel good about this but something was stopping me. The feeling that this wasn't done wouldn't leave me alone. I looked around. Mori stood, arms folded, to the side, watching as Honey made his stealthy way back towards me. Kyoya was on the phone to someone and from the eye-rolling, it was probably Tamaki. I drew my knees up to my chest and tried to wipe the memory of Jai's tongue from my neck viciously. The weight of amber eyes made me pause. Koaru sat on the floor, an EMT hovering around him as Hikaru protectively embraced his brother, his face buried in his shoulder. There was a strong possibility, I knew, that he was crying. Kaoru's eyes held something I couldn't put my finger on. I smiled weakly but I didn't go to him, dropping my head to my knees. The twins needed this. They needed each other. Kaoru needed Hikaru a lot more than he needed someone like me.

"Kat-chan?" I glanced at Honey.

"Yes?"

"Why did you go alone?" He was peering at me, half-curious, half-reproachful. I kept my eyes fixed resolutely on the ground.

"Because I had to," I muttered quietly. I knew, deep down, that if Kaoru hadn't been there, this would have been a very different story. Instead, I messed up almost every elementary element of whatever plan I'd had – in one day, I'd been outwitted, outsmarted, out cold. I'd been captured, threatened, controlled, and I did absolutely nothing. I'd been the worst rescue mission ever. I decided I was no good at rescuing people and resolved never to do it again.

"No, you didn't," Honey said, putting his tiny hand on my knees and forcing me to look at him. "You could have waited for us. But you didn't." I sighed.

"I know, Honey. I'm sorry." He hesitated but I'd made it quite clear this conversation was over. He patted me on the head before rushing back to Mori. Considering my plan had gone out the window in the first five minutes, I could have waited and had much better results. Parts of me hurt like a bitch and Jai'd left some new invisible scars that were going to keep me up at night, I knew. I felt broken and on edge, like I was waiting, waiting for the next bad thing to happen. Honey was still casting worried glances in my directions. It was like he suspected something was up, something more than the post-traumatic stress a normal person would come down with.

I didn't look up when he sat down next to me. I didn't know what to say to him. I wanted to apologise. I had been next to completely useless.

"I'm sorry," I whispered at the floor.

"You're an idiot," Kaoru said. I'd barely opened my mouth to protest when he pulled me towards him and wrapped his arms around me. I stiffened, biting my lip.

"Why?" I said, annoyed. "This was all my fault. I fucked up and you got pulled into it." He didn't say anything but he didn't let go. I closed my eyes and sighed as he pulled me closer to him, half-curling up against his chest. I really didn't understand people at all. If I were him, I'd probably blame me. Instead, he was acting as if… as if I was the victim here. I half curled up against his chest, wanting the fear in my chest to leave me alone, just for a moment. I wanted to enjoy this while it lasted.

"You came for me, Katya," he said after a minute.

"And what good did that do?" I said, sounding sulkier than I meant to. "I should have known it was a trap."

"Okay, maybe you should have. But from what Hikaru said, none of you were really thinking straight." I glanced up at him. What? He grinned at me and something inside me knew it was going to be okay. His lips against mine were soft and even Honey's giggles didn't ruin the moment. Koaru was alright, I thought, and that was all that mattered for the moment. I put my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, refusing to cry. I'd done enough of that. Crying while I was happy too woud just take the piss.

There was a blast of white noise as the walkie talkie on the floor crackled into life. I stilled, suspicious. This couldn't be good. Kyoya flipped his phone shut and picked it up.

"What is it?" He barked.

"Master Ootori! Crowds are gathering. Permission to move Himura to a more secure location within the building?" The was a pause and I knew Kyoya was looking at us. I didn't look up. I didn't care. I just wanted this to end.

"There's an antechamber at the back of the ground floor. Move quickly." I heard the front doors open with a bang and Kaoru's arm tightened around me. The air seemed to get noticeably colder and my scars tingled and I knew he was there. I was obviously turning into a Potter.

"Feeling a little down, English?" I wanted to ignore him. I really did. But my head lifted almost on its own. He grinned as the two soldiers frogmarched him across the ground floor, completely unharmed apart from a blackening circle on his temple which was probably a present from me. The fear flared up inside me again. Logically, I knew he couldn't touch me but every part of my body screamed that I had to get away. He sneered and dug in his feet as he passed, forcing the soldiers to a stop.

"Want some cheering up?" Jai licked his lips suggestively and I shuddered.

"Ignore him," Kaoru muttered and Jai laughed.

"Running to your little rich boy. It's funny, English. I'd never had you down as that kind of girl. No matter." He cocked his head. "He won't be around for long." Hikaru leapt to his feet.

"Is that a threat?" He snarled. Jai looked between the twins for a second, taking it in. He seemed so relaxed. He was enjoying this. He was in custody and he _enjoying_ it.

"Oh, most definitely," he hissed, locking eyes with him. "You can't keep me from her. Even if I have to take you all." Kyoya stepped forwards as Mori gripped Hikaru's shoulder, holding him firmly in place. Beside me, Kaoru made a choked noise and I realised he was as afraid as I was. I felt my heart fall still.

"You're going away for a very long time, Himura Jai," Kyoya said mildly. Jai cackled.

"That's never stopped me before and you know it, Ootori." The soldiers started to drag him towards the door as he laughed. "You'd better be prepared, English! I always get what I want. And anyone in my way is going to bleed!" The door swung closed but that didn't block out his gleeful shouts. He wasn't afraid, I realised, and I needed him to be afraid. I curled my hands into fists, staring at the ground. Kaoru sat still and silent next to me and I gritted my teeth. Jai deserved worse than this. So much worse. Kyoya's eyes were dark and dangerous.

"He can threaten all he likes," he said coldly. "There's no way he can touch you now, Katya." We had him. But we didn't have his people. How long would it be before they stopped taking orders from him? We didn't know how powerful this guy was. We barely knew anything about him. He was still threatening them. He was threatening _Kaoru_.

I heard him laugh from the anteroom and knew that the fear was never going to leave as long as he stayed where he was.

There are moments in my life when everything stills. They aren't very often – few and far between, they live in my memories as vivid sharp blots on the story of my life. It's like time slows down and my brain works in overdrive as everything suddenly pieces itself together and I can see it all. The question, the answer, the solution, the problem, whatever I'm looking at comes into focus in sharp detail. I think it's something vaguely related to adrenaline but I'd never bothered to look it up. My fingers were tingling and my vision sharpened to a point. All of a sudden, I was very calm, even as he gave a grin, a grin that promised pain and suffering and everything I feared.

I'd figured out what was wrong. I wasn't going to turn away here. I wasn't going to hand him over. I was going to tear down everything I had built and I wasn't going to regret a second of it.

I stood up, brushing Kaoru's arms off me. He frowned.

"Katya? Where are you going?"

"Nowhere. Stay here," I told him distantly. I saw Honey and Mori stop their conversation and look my way, expressions ranging from worried to curious. Hikaru stood to the side, still in Mori's grasp, his fury written all over his face. Kaoru tried to grab my hand and I took a step away.

"Wait-" I started walking. Kyoya looked sideways at me as I passed him.

"Keep them out," I murmured to him.

"What are you doing?" He asked quietly. I didn't answer and pushed my way into the long anteroom. The inside was almost empty now. There were no other soldiers in sight and that was just the way I needed it. Jai's sneer at having got to me paled quickly as I pulled out the dead soldier's handgun and shot him in the knee. He screamed, lurching to one side, the two soldiers with him scattering in surprise.

"Katya!" Someone shouted in the other room but I kept walking and took out his other knee. Jai crumpled to the ground, yelling in pain. I stood over him as he rolled around, checking the magazine idly before pointing it at his face.

"You crazy bitch!" He spat. "You can't do this!" I looked down at him for a second.

I drove my heel into his face, feeling the satisfying crunch of bones giving way. Blood spurted from his broken nose onto the floorboards and he cried out wetly. My display of vengeance was rather ruined by the simultaneous clicks of firearms being readied.

"Katya, put the gun down. It's over." I didn't look at Kyoya. I pushed Jai's face over with my foot, admiring my handiwork. The soldiers took aim.

"No, it's not," I said calmly. "It will never be over until I finish it."

"Don't be an idiot, Katya."

"I'm not." I looked at him icily. "What are you going to do, Ootori? Shoot me?" There was a frozen silence and then Kyoya turned away sharply. He waved a hand and the soldiers lowered their weapons, looking confused. I'd half expected him to shoot me. Instead, he'd basically given me permission. My version of permission.

"And what are _you_ going to do, English?" Jai hissed, his teeth gritted.. "Are you going to kill me yourself?"

"Yes," I said mildly and it obviously wasn't the answer he expected. I stamped down on his destroyed kneecaps and his scream of agony was met with silence. I lifted my foot, looking at him stonily as I pulled his own knife from my waistband.

"What do you… want?" He choked, tears streaming from his eyes as I bent down.

"For you to suffer," I told him honestly, making him scream again as I stuck the knife into his shoulder. "You thought you understood me. You didn't have a fucking clue." I straightened and pressed my foot onto the hilt of the knife. His screech of agony echoed off the walls as I upped the pressure, driving the blade deeper into him until the hilt reached his body.

"You do _not,_" I snarled. "Threaten my friends. Do you understand me?" Something gave way under my boot and Jai's scream choked off, his eyes bulging, his mouth opening and closing desperately as he fought to breathe through the pain. I wondered if I could keep crushing him like this until it came apart.

"Katya," Kyoya said quietly. I lifted my foot and the air seemed to rush into his lungs. He was sobbing now, choking on his own pain, and I turned away. Kyoya leant against the wall, his arms folded and his eyes fixed on the ground. The soldiers rushed back in, pulling Jai into a sort of kneeling position. The man looked like he was about to faint, his legs dangling ruined beneath him.

"Pain gets you… nothing," he managed to spit, evil eyes on me as a crazed smile plastered itself across his face. His blood was running across the floor in tiny rivers. "I will… never let you… rest. You're mine… forever. I will always find… a way to… get you and your pet.. rich boy. This… changes… _nothing._"

"I know," I said quietly. Hell, if he could see me now. "But this will."

I turned, bringing up the gun. His eyes didn't really have time to widen before the bullet smashed through his forehead and sprayed the fallen bookcases with brains. When shot dead, people didn't stop and then topple like most expected and Jai was no exception. He crumpled like a puppet with his strings cut, a hopeless husk of the terror he had once been. I watched him fall to the ground with a soft _flump_ and marvelled at how unceremonious his death was. The feeling I hadn't been able to shake began to dissipate.

Jai was gone and he was never coming back.

I stared down at his corpse. I noticed the gun in my hand was shaking and lowered it back to my side, breathing hard. The fear had disappeared and the adrenaline was seeping out of me. I felt light-headed. There was a sigh from behind me.

"I suppose I should have anticipated that," Kyoya muttered. "What was your plan now?" I shrugged unsteadily.

"Get arrested and plead guilty, I guess." He rolled his eyes, walking over to take the gun off me.

"That won't be necessary. As far as anyone outside of this room is concerned, this was self-defence. Right?" He fixed the two soldiers with an icy stare and they saluted sharply. I glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. Kyoya gave me a look.

"You'd be surprise what someone in a position of power can find out about you." I looked at the blood oozing across the floor. He knew. He _knew._ Jai had known too. Which asshole had put all this information up where anyone could get at it?

"If you knew, why didn't you stop me before?" I asked. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Because I doubt he would have survived in Ootori custody anyway," he admitted. I looked at him sharply, surprised. "He's threatened too many powerful people. As unlikely as it might seem, even people in our social circle have some underworld contacts." My brain took a minute to process this.

"You sly bastard," I said eventually. He pushed his glasses up his nose and I swear, if his robotic engineering could have let him blush, he would have.

"The Hitachiins, however, are not that sort of family. And we all know it." He looked down at the body. "I'm sure one of the others would have ensured Jai never contacted any of his men again," he mused.

"And I was being so careful. I was so _worried_ what you would think," I breathed, staring sadly at the ceiling. He cast me a look.

"The past was the past, Katya. You could have told us at any point. I thought that perhaps you might. None of us would have cared. We liked you for who you were." I looked down at Jai.

"This isn't the past anymore, though," I murmured.

"No," he agreed. "It isn't."

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Bonus! I stayed up late writing this because, well, I was on a roll! You asked, I deliver. Kind of.<em>


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